The Halo 3 Epilogue
by flugel meister
Summary: After the conclusion of Halo 3 the Master Chief and Cortana were left stranded and alone in space. This story picks up where the game left off, and follows the Chief and Cortana when they crash land on a mysterious planet. Please R
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Mist and distant stars swirled and danced in a dazzling display of colour. In the distance he could make out the faces of those he had lost, many of them friends but all were heroes determined to ensure the survival of mankind.  
But unlike them he had prevailed where they had not and against all the odds he had defeated countless enemies on countless worlds. He had survived and was now the last of his kind in a universe full of uncertainty.  
As he continued to drift in his new found peace the distant mist changed colour once more to a fiery red, which radiated with blinding beauty in the dark and empty void. His name was whispered amongst the stars over and over again, but then the whispering became louder until a deafening roar filled his already ringing ears.

"John, wake up!" screamed Cortana.

John quickly opened his eyes only to see the shattered and broken section of the frigate around him. He opened the stasis chamber and pulled his weightless body from its inviting warmth. All around him the hull of the ship seemed to warp and shudder as a series of bright red flares cascaded around the bulkheads at the far end of the corridor.

"Status," Barked john

"Re-entry Chief, we're about to make an emergency crash landing." Explained Cortana

"Where?" asked John

"I don't know, but wherever we are it's nowhere near Earth." Replied Cortana

John moved to the far end of the deck to see what Cortana was talking about. Below the broken UNSC ship was a large planet shrouded in darkness, the only visible light was on the horizon from the now rising sun.

"Firing emergency thrusters!" stated Cortana

Despite only having half the ship to use, the robust structure and redundant back-up systems were still capable of manoeuvring the hulk in the planets atmosphere. The ungainly shape of the UNSC frigate would provide maximum surface for slowing their descent. The only thing they had to worry about was the landing itself.

* * *

**Part One**

"What are our options?" asked John

"I could crash-land the _Forward Unto Dawn, _but I doubt that even you would survive chief. Our only other option is for you to get to one of the ships' hangar bays and try and fly a Pelican to the surface. Once there, I'll land the _Dawn_ as best as I can." Explained Cortana

"I'm not leaving you behind, not again." Stated John

"Chief you don't have a choice; if you stay you'll die. Falling from the sky is one thing, but falling from the sky in 600,000 metric tones of frigate is another. Flying a Pelican to the surface is your only option." Said Cortana

John stared at Cortana as he weighed the possible options. No doubt every conceivable plan that he was going through in his head had already been examined, summarized and discounted by Cortana along with another ten thousand options within the blink of an eye. Her calculating abilities were only matched by his stubbornness, something which Sgt Johnson had remarked on more than one occasion. But deep down, he knew that she was right and reluctantly agreed.  
"Where's the nearest hangar bay?" he asked.

"Two decks down, the damaged lift shaft is your best way of getting there. Once there I'll try and steady the ship long enough for you to fly out, but once your out it'll be one hell of a ride." Replied Cortana

"I can handle it." Stated John with a confident tone

John grabbed the assault rifle and attached it to his armoured back before boosting himself off the stasis chamber and towards the darker section of the ship. Cortana had activated several way-points on his NAV computer all of which illuminated a small section of his display like a trail of proverbial breadcrumbs.  
Ahead of him the hull shuddered under the increasing stress of re-entry. Although they were still some way out before the ship would start to burn, John knew that the most time he had was around seventeen minutes. Then as if by some form of telepathy, Cortana activated a small timer display in the upper left section of his helmet which read: 17:28 before it began to count down.

"This is how much time you have chief before the _Dawn_ becomes too unstable for you to leave, so I suggest that you hurry." Shouted Cortana

John glided towards the lift shaft ahead of him and then placed an armour encased hand on the twisted door. John planted his feet on the floor before exerting some pressure on the broken doorway. After several seconds of pulling, the metal gave way and the door glided slowly away from him revealing a dark lift shaft that almost seemed to descend into infinity.  
After increasing the power to his helmet mounted lamp and boosting the gain on his night vision sensors, John quickly dived into the bowels of the _Dawn_. All around him shapes and shadows fleeted and warped in the changing light, giving the illusion that he was traveling with company. John only wished that were true. He would have given anything to be with his old team again.

Cortana snapped John back to reality with a progress report on their re-entry; he was surprised to discover that almost five minutes had passed since he left the upper deck. John once again focused on his lonely descent just as the hangar lift doors came into view.  
Unlike the ones that he had left behind these doors were untouched, which presented more than just one problem. As there was no damage to the doors it left John with very little to hold onto.

"Cortana can you spare any power for the doors at the hangar level?" asked John

"Not at the moment chief, I'm using all I have just to keep us pointing the right way. You'll just have to use your head." Replied Cortana

"Good idea." Whispered John

John pushed gently away from the hangar entrance and towards the opposing wall of the lift shaft where the magnetic guide rails for the lift carriage were located. After slowing and positioning himself properly John pushed as hard as he could towards the lift doors and smacked into them with the force of a small tank. The impact sent stars swirling around his head and momentarily lowered his shield strength to 76 before recharging.  
Cortana immediately noticed the change in his status and asked what was happening, John replied with his usual sense of wit.

"Just following your advice,"

The encounter with the lift door had left it bent and buckled with enough surface gain for John to twist the metal into a more appropriate doorway.  
After passing through the gap John found himself in a large room that barely resembled any sort of hangar. All him around were various and untidy piles of logistical containers that had either been left unsecured or had been shaken from their mountings.  
Ahead of him were six Pelicans; four were clearly damaged to the extent that flight was not an option and two of those had been ripped from their ceiling mounted transit clamps. The other two seemed intact and were still fixed to the large mechanical clamps on the hangar ceiling, but as John glided closer he noticed that one of them was covered in a series of large, deep gouges that meant re-entry would be more than a little warm. The last remaining Pelican, apart from a couple of dents, was still perfectly flight-worthy, and the automated release system for that particular clamp was still working. It seemed that John's unusual run of good luck was still with him.

John swam in the zero gravity towards the working Pelican and hauled himself inside through its rear deployment ramp. Despite the outward appearance of the drop ship its interior was anything but calm as John made his way to the cockpit across an internal sea of scattered weapons and ammunition cases. The cockpit was a welcome sight and despite his bulk john managed to secure himself in the small pilot's chair and activated the controls.  
Lights and display screens flickered into life giving the cockpit a strange glow that was more reminiscent of a Covenant cruiser. It had been a while since he had flown himself, but he had a huge area to land on; the planet below. So getting down would not be a problem.

John glanced at the timer display in his SPARTAN helmet where it read 4:09; the trip had taken longer than expected.  
In a series of quick stabs at the control panel the engines erupted into life and John released the Pelican from its transit clamp and turned the ship around before stabilizing the drop ship in a small hover.

"Cortana, status!" bellowed John

"The _Dawn's_ a little sluggish but I think I've managed to stabilize her trajectory. I see that you finally got yourself a means of transport," Answered Cortana "Opening outer doors."

As Cortana opened the hangar doors John was greeted with a blaze of light from the rising sun on the planets' horizon. His faceplate polarized to compensate for the intense glare, allowing John to see the interior of the frigate around him once more.

"Chief you've got less than three minutes, get out!" commanded Cortana

John answered with a light push on the engines thrusters, which sent the Pelican towards the illuminated opening. The _Dawn_ shuddered several times in the increasing turbulence before Cortana regained control long enough for John to activate the afterburners on the drop ship, sending it hurtling outwards and into the violent atmosphere.  
The Pelican jerked suddenly as it came into contact with the rushing air, sending Johns head down with the g-force. After a couple of seconds John regained his control on the nauseating dive and turned to follow the descending frigate just as the Dawn's forward hull began to glow red from the re-entry manoeuvre. John fired the afterburners a second time and sped towards the falling frigate.

"Cortana what's your status?" shouted John

"I still have control of the descent and expect impact in twenty two minutes, after I have made a series of-." Cortana's conversation was cut short as the antenna array was ripped from the _Dawn_ in the glaring inferno.

John followed closely behind in the Pelican trying to raise an answer from his artificial comrade.

* * *

**Part ****Two**

Like its namesake the Dawn began to flare like a rising star. The leading edge of the frigate was not designed to re-enter the atmosphere of a planet backwards, let alone in half. Large sections of metal began to tear from the main structure and damaged Archer missile pods were exploding with the buffeting and overwhelming heat.  
John pushed the engines of the Pelican to beyond their operational maximum in an effort to keep up with the remains of the Dawn. But the situation seemed to conspire against him.  
The planets' gravity and the already excessive momentum gripping the Dawn meant that he was gradually falling behind without the ability to talk to his trusted guide. Despite years together, fighting against the best the Covenant could offer there was little he could do except follow the broken frigate. This was where John hated being. In a situation that was not subject to his physical strength, endurance or speed. He was more at home on the ground where he could move faster and hit harder than anyone else in the UNSC and most probably the majority of his former enemy; the Covenant. In the air though he was like a fish out of water and all of his survival instincts were relying on the mechanical movements of a dented drop ship. He preferred solid ground, a good rifle and a team that he could no longer call upon.  
John was immediately tempted to think back to a time when SPARTANS were the last best hope for the survival of Humanity, but gradually their numbers had dwindled to just a handful of skilled individuals. Even now he was unsure of whether any of them were still alive. Deep down though he hoped they were.

The Pelican jerked suddenly, bringing John back to reality. The frigate had now pushed itself into a 12 kilometre lead, and even with his faceplate fully polarized and at maximum magnification there was little detail that he could make out. Captain Keys had been able to land the Pillar of Autumn on the first Halo, but then he had an entire ship to utilise not a collection of damaged and broken deck plates with half a MAC gun.  
Suddenly the Dawn began to move slowly to the left and then the whole ship rolled over to expose the more intact dorsal section to the ferocious heat. Cortana was still in control.  
John followed as best as he could behind the Dawn for the next twenty minutes, and managed to make up some ground as the large twisted frigate performed a series of S-turns in order to slow its descent. Then John heard a sound he did not expect.  
"Chief…is Cortana…antenna …non functional…am using…ships sensor array plating…you hear me?" said a distant and distorted Cortana  
John could only make out parts of the transmission but it was enough to reassure him of Cortana's status.  
"Barely Cortana, I'm just behind you. I'll follow you in." replied John  
Nothing further came from frigate except a wash of static.  
John continued to follow the burning ship as far as he could and then slowly pulled back on the control column to bring the nose of the Pelican level with the horizon, and watched as the ship sliced a fiery scar into the grass covered surface of the planet beneath. Even before the battered UNSC frigate come to a stop John was already landing.

Once down John punched the ramp release switch so hard that the control surface crumpled under his strength, but the welfare of the Pelican was the least of his concerns. He raced from the ramp and towards the Dawn with a speed that even Kelly would have been proud of, but he was greeted with a searing wave of heat that blistered and bubbled the remaining layer of his already scarred colour scheme. Pale green paint fell from his armour in thin scorched flakes upon the ground as he pushed his suit of Mjolnir armour beyond its limit.  
The main hangar bay that had provided John with the means to escape was now a shattered mess and even the remaining Pelicans, although already damaged, were now an unrecognisable sight. John carried on running to the far end of the ship where the engines were located and climbed in through one of the few intact deck hatches. John continued to race throughout the remaining sections of the ship until he reached the area where he had left Cortana.  
"Cortana, Cortana can you hear me!" shouted John  
He stood next to the cracked holo plate that had served as Cortana's command cell and waited for her to appear as though afraid to remove her chip, either through concern of more damage or through the fading hope that she was still functioning.  
"Cortana?" Whispered John  
John began to reach for the chip housing below the holo-plinth when it suddenly illuminated to reveal the familiar image of his companion.  
"What took you so long?" asked Cortana  
"Funny, real funny next time lets do something harder." joked John  
John placed the chip back in its portable housing in his armour, where it belonged and then collected a few supplies before heading back to the Pelican. It was good to have her back in his head.  
"Chief there's something I need to tell you," Cortana paused before continuing "You were in stasis for quite a while."  
"How long?" asked John  
"Longer than you think." Replied Cortana

* * *

**Part ****Three**

John continued walking towards the Pelican expecting Cortana to say that he had been in stasis for 3 or 4 years, but her hesitation in coming forward with a definitive timescale only heightened his already overwhelming concern.

"Exactly how long have I been in stasis Cortana?" asked John

Cortana paused extensively before coming back with an answer.

"You're not going to like it," replied Cortana

"How long!" asked John with a raised tone

"314 years, 8 months and 3 days." Said Cortana with a sympathetic tone

John immediately stopped walking and dropped the supplies on the ground, for the first time in his life as a Spartan he was shocked.

"I'm sorry John." Said Cortana

John made a vain attempt to recover his composure but he knew why Cortana was so sympathetic. She had been his guide and confidant for years and knew him probably better than he knew himself. It no longer mattered if all of the Spartans had survived the war, which he knew was impossible, they would all be dead by now. Not even a Spartan can live that long.

"Damn." He whispered

"Chief I know that this probably won't make up for anything but you stopped Truth and saved Humanity from extinction, you've achieved your mission." Said Cortana

"I know, but I never expected to win this war on my own or without another Spartan in sight." Replied John

It was more than just that, John had hoped to see at least one of them again but the three centuries that had passed ensured that would never happen, even Kelly was unable to outrun time.  
John was indeed the last surviving Spartan, and his luck had held out where the others had succumbed to fate and destiny.

Another dread filled thought suddenly entered his head. Even though Cortana was the most advanced of her kind, she was still limited by an unforgiving life expectancy of seven years. Under normal circumstances she would only have a couple of those years left at best, but they had been drifting in space for centuries.

"How are you still functioning after all this time?" enquired John

"You weren't the only one sleeping up there you know," answered Cortana "After I dropped off the beacon and assessed our situation, I wrote a program for the environmental and navigation systems that would allow both of us to rest until we were picked up. I was only alerted when the _Dawn_ approached this planet."

John remained quiet, thinking of his possible options. He hoped that Cortana would live forever or that if they were rescued there would be some advancement in technology that would allow her to remain his companion well into old age. Three hundred years had since he was last on Earth; AI's were probably living to all kinds of ages. He hoped so.

"We'd better get moving chief; we have a lot of ground to cover." Said Cortana softly

John quietly nodded in agreement before picking up the discarded supplies and making his way to the waiting Pelican. The exterior of the UNSC drop ship was covered in scrapes and scratches from the heated pursuit of the Dawn. The starboard wing was slightly damaged from a near encounter with a semi-molten Warthog, but besides this she was fine and was all that John and Cortana could utilise in their exploration of this mysterious world.  
After making himself comfortable John inserted Cortana's chip into the small Pelican holo-plinth besides the navigation console, she quickly appeared; bathing the cockpit in blue light from her illuminated female form.

"So where to?" asked John

"Take us up to two thousand metres chief and I'll try and use what's left of the on-board sensors to scan the terrain around us." explained Cortana

John replied with the engine ignition sequence before taking them up into the marble-blue and white sky above. As they ascended in the Pelican, the observable surface of the planet seemed to stretch outwards in all directions. Even with the new advantage in height there was little change in the terrain.  
The rolling blanket of dense-green woodland seemed to grow in size as they reached the 2,000 metre mark.  
The interior of the cockpit seemed to flare as shafts of bright sunlight reflected on the control console and cascaded onto the fields and forests below. In another setting John would have enjoyed the scenery before him; it was similar in appearance to the green expanse of Reach. Except here everything was flat and without anything that resembled a hill or a mountain. It was a stark contrast in that respect to the varied terrain of his former Spartan home.  
Reach was filled with every conceivable environment type; snow capped mountain ranges, rolling green woodland and arid-deserts. It was the ideal place to train a Spartan unlike this new world where nothing seemed to be out of place.  
The one thing that did seem odd in this sea of green was a small section of what appeared to be desert like terrain far off to the West.  
Cortana spent several seconds analysing the sensor data before reporting back to John.

"There are basic life form readings in and around the vegetation and the only area of interest is 87 miles to the West. There is a small desert and some kind of object but I'm experiencing a great deal of difficulty in trying to get a more precise reading of it from the sensors." Reported Cortana

"Any power readings?" asked John

"No nothing at all, in fact there's a distinct lack of even background radiation from the object. We should approach with caution." Replied Cortana

John agreed and dropped the Pelican down towards the tree-tops to avoid presenting an obvious radar-silhouette to any potential inhabitant.

For all John knew the structure could be a distant Covenant loyalist outpost, housing an untold number of brutes, Grunts and Jackals. All supported by squadrons of Banshees. Three hundred years of knowing defeat would mean any former adversary would be unwelcome, especially a demon.  
Despite having the Pelican to use, John dropped the speed down to half in an effort to conserve fuel. He had no idea how long he would be here or what he and Cortana would encounter on the planet. The last thing he wanted to do was reduce their traveling speed to a lengthy sprint on foot.

The distant object filled with eye-catching detail as they approached, even though they were still over thirty miles out the unusual building began to fill most of the horizon. Its size was breath taking.  
Cortana gazed at the sight before them and a series of symbols flashed across her glowing exterior. There was obviously something of interest that John had not seen.

"What is it?" enquired John "Or need I ask?"

"The design is of Forerunner origin but it's somehow different." Answered Cortana

"Different, how?" asked John

"All of the other structures and ships that we encountered before were all made with a similar design theme, and they all utilised the same materials and energy output even when dormant. But this design deviates from everything else that I've seen before." explained Cortana

"In what way?" asked John with a raised tone

"I can't detect it. The sensors on the Pelican could pick up a large indentation in the desert floor and I could see it from the crash-site, but there's no structure according to the sensor log." She replied

"You mean it's a hologram?" suggested John

"No I think it's some kind of camouflage technology. We can see it visually but besides that it's undetectable." Said Cortana "But it's not just the structure, there are various areas of this planet that are phasing in and out of the sensor scans. I think the whole planet has some kind of stealth field around it, but obviously over the years since the Forerunners were here the power in some areas has started to degrade."

John nodded and continued their approach in the Pelican; he was tempted to fire the forward chain gun at the structure just to see if the armour-piercing rounds would interact with a solid object and not a hologram, but he knew better than that.  
For once in his experience with Forerunner technology John wanted to know where he stood, but that was never the case.

The unusual Forerunner structure in front of him was indeed different to the rest that he had seen. The metal almost seemed to harbor feelings of hostility towards him. Instead of the usual clean silver lines and highlights of blue light on every conduit and bulkhead there was a deep, dark metal almost black in colour covering the entire structure. But despite its darkness the building, if that is what it was, still managed to shine and glimmer like glass. Covering the dark skin were thin lines of bright red and orange, John felt as though was looking at some deadly creature that was covered in bright scales designed to ward off potential predators.  
The main bulk of the structure consisted of several large towers that stretched upwards into the sky, their thick capital-ship sized bases ascended vertically until they came to a fine sharp point that was coated in several red slashes. The tall spires were accompanied by several smaller spires and a large dark building shaped like a pyramid sliced vertically in half. Unlike previous Forerunner technology there was no observable place to set down. It almost seemed like the structure was designed to prevent a nearby landing in combination with the lack of obvious doorways.

"I could shoot my way in," suggested John "for a change."

"I think that in this case chief, firing any form of weaponry would bring us down a lot quicker than we would wish," Replied Cortana "I think I know what this planet is."

"Go on." Stated John

"Everything else that we have seen, the halo structures, Flood containment units and the Ark they were all part of a large system designed to defeat the Flood. Whereas this seems to be a world designed to keep those that controlled the Halo's safe from its effects and from any uninvited guest; such as a Flood infested ship." Explained Cortana

"You mean a shield." Replied John

"A shield world to be more precise, this is where a whole population could reside in safety free from the effects of the Halo's." said Cortana

"I remember you mentioning this before." Replied John

"This is different chief. These structures aren't here for decoration, or to power the stealth shield, they're weapons designed for destroying one enemy in particular; the Flood.

"Then let's find a place to set down and take a look." Announced John

* * *

**Part Four**

**November 6th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)  
**

Kelly casually walked from the small stream back towards their makeshift camp at the base of one of the many rolling hills. Despite the vast area available for them to explore, she felt trapped by a world that was designed to keep its inhabitants safe from danger. But at the moment it was prison, with no guards, no windows and no obvious way out.  
Her first impressions of this shield world had been positive despite their losses, but after only two days of walking and setting up camp on a daily basis with no clear objective, Kelly had become somewhat disheartened.  
She had resorted to running around the local area in order to maintain her high level of fitness. But she was fortunate.  
Linda and Mark on the other hand only had a limited supply of ammunition, which meant that their exceptional abilities were being used for small scouting runs into the surrounding valleys, whilst Olivia was constantly tracking a herd of cattle that vaguely resembled the common cow on Earth.  
Fred and Chief Mendez were probably the most optimistic in Kelly's eyes, as they were doing everything in their power to aid Dr. Halsey in her research. So far they had set up a series of small solar panels to help power the doctor's equipment, but it was a far cry from fighting the Covenant.  
Dr. Halsey was the only member of this unofficial and unwilling group of explorers that seemed to move with any real purpose, but then safeguarding the Spartans had always been her intention. That was why she was here in the first place.

Kelly looked over at the isolated cryo-tubes. Ash and Tom had remained with them since they had arrived, as though on a constant religious vigil. But there was little that could be achieved within two days. Even Dr. Halsey was at a loss as to how to free them.  
In all the years of the war, Humanity at large had made little progress with the technology that they had gleaned from their encounters with the Covenant, so how were they to crack the seemingly impossible Forerunner puzzles that were scattered around the galaxy. Even the Covenant had been unable to achieve that.

Kelly reached the small encampment and handed out several water canteens to Fred and the chief, each of whom took a series of long gulps of the fresh cold water from the stream.  
Dr. Halsey briefly looked up at Kelly and the others before burying herself in her work once again. Although the doctor was the one that wanted them all here she was still extremely anxious when it came to the members of team Katana and the whereabouts of John and Cortana. Despite the fact that all of the Spartans were all extremely proficient in the art of warfare, she still viewed them all in the same way as a surrogate mother pines for the children that are no longer hers. To her they were still children, even John.

"Are you any further forward doctor?" asked Kelly

Doctor Halsey sighed before removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands.

"Unfortunately not," she said with a smile "But don't worry Kelly, there must be a way to open the cryo-tubes, I just have to find out how."

Kelly tried to force a smile herself, but ended up pulling a face that better resembled a child receiving an injection with a needle meant for a horse. As all of the Spartans, new and old, had removed their helmets they no longer had the luxury of hiding their emotions from Dr. Halsey, but she refrained from letting the Spartans know that she could see their concern. But unknown to them, she also had concerns of her own. There was no way to know for sure if the Covenant had another way to reach the interior of the shield world, or if Kurt had actually succeeded in detonating the Fenris warheads.  
Unlike the waiting Spartans, she had a mission, an objective, a target. Above all else she had to unlock the cryo-tubes holding team Katana. If she succeeded she would have more Spartans to look after and more Spartans to help defeat the Covenant once and for all, when the time was right.  
Except this time they would be fighting with Forerunner weapons, and against that the Covenant would have no defence. They would be the ones on the back-foot instead of Humanity. They would be the ones losing.

**May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)  
**

John walked cautiously towards the nearest spire, its imposing presence made him deeply uncomfortable.

His Mjolnir armour was designed to withstand excessive concussive force, projectile weapons and certain Covenant energy weapons. In combination with energy shields and a body hardened to withstand warfare, and endure countless environments that would ordinarily kill a man, he was a force to be reckoned with. Even the Covenant had realised that.  
But whenever he was around a Forerunner structure his abilities paled in comparison to their accomplishments. He could understand Cortana's fascination with them along with his former mentor Dr. Catherine Halsey. Here in front of him was probably one of the most powerful weapons in the known universe, designed to fight one of the most deadly creations in the universe: the Flood. If the Covenant had gained any of this technology before their arrival on Earth, then no ship or Spartan would have been able to stop them and Mankind would have been condemned to death, or a state of existence that they would never recover from.  
John pushed the thought from his mind, Cortana was right, the war with the Covenant had ended and Humanity had been saved. Despite this John was still troubled by his new-found isolation, even with Cortana.  
He was, as far as he or Cortana knew, the last surviving Spartan and the only human on this strange new world.

As he walked towards the nearest spire he began to recognise the familiar sight of the Forerunner doorway that Cortana had seen, but this one was big enough for Scarab to walk through.  
Taking the Pelican all the way to the entrance had been tempting, as traveling around or through any Forerunner structure by foot always took a lot longer than any first impression would indicate. But they had both agreed that any such action might activate whatever dormant defence system was lying in wait. John stopped several feet away from the large heavy looking doors, looking for anything that might resemble a threat whilst Cortana went over the security system guarding the door. Although she was not in direct contact with the access terminal Cortana could still breach the security settings of the antiquated entrance.

"I've got it." Cortana informed

John took a couple of steps backwards as the huge dark doors slowly heaved open; there was a hiss of air, indicating that the seal was airtight but surprisingly there was a thin trail of sand running into the vast cathedral sized interior.  
Cortana utilised the internal sensors to scan the vast complex, but only some of them were working and only on some of the levels. Of which there were dozens.

"I'm picking up a power source several levels below chief; it could be a control chamber, I suggest we investigate."

John agreed and started to walk further into the structure until Cortana jumped onto the secure COM channel.

"Wait chief I've got a life-form, very weak but it's definitely a life-form!" exclaimed Cortana

John detached the assault rifle from the magnetic armour-plating on his back before continuing into the Forerunner structure.

"Let's go and introduce ourselves then." Answered John

* * *

**Part Five**

**November 7th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)**

The thick woodland that covered most of the local area gradually began to thin, as Olivia moved silently in her stealthy pursuit. The Forerunners, as advanced as they were, had the wisdom to include a plentiful supply of cattle. But unlike their counterparts on Earth, these Cows were evasive and more intelligent. Even for a Spartan III like Olivia, they were a challenge which seemed odd to her in a way. She had spent years in training and had fought against the Covenant on many occasions, but here she was having to use all of her skills just to ensure the rest of the team had a reliable food supply.  
There were no natural predators that they had seen, and yet the initial presence of Spartans had alarmed the cattle herds. If there was nothing to prey on them, then seeing several Spartans should not have bothered them at all but instead they were keen to stay out of reach of any Human contact.  
Fred and Chief Mendez were still going about their usual daily routine of helping out Dr. Halsey, whilst the members of team Sabre were examining some of the removable panels of Kelly's armour. Although they were more agile than the Spartan II's their fight against the Forerunner sentinels taught them that additional protection is a must, even Ash and Tom had peeled themselves away from the Cryo-tubes for a more detailed look at her armour.  
Kelly went through the main systems of her valuable armour, which was decorated with the scars of war. Kelly had seen a great deal of combat and her armour reflected that. Some of the deep gouges caused by a Covenant plasma rifle were the main areas of interest for the younger Spartans especially as their armour was designed for stealth and not close quarter battle.

"Are there any more Spartans left?" asked Tom

Kelly looked away as though deep in thought or remembering fallen comrades from years that had long since past.

"When the Covenant attacked Reach, blue team was tasked with defending one of the many orbital instillations that made Reach the fortress world that it was, but John our team leader became separated from the rest of us." Kelly's eyes glazed-over with the mounting emotion and she paused briefly to compose herself.  
Dr. Halsey walked up and seeing the look on Kelly's face, continued with the account of John's history. She spoke of the many battles that John had been involved in including the destruction of the first Halo structure and the initial defence of Earth.

"He must have killed thousands of Covenant troops," interrupted Ash

"Probably more than you think, but he'll have saved many more lives," answered Dr. Halsey

Olivia suddenly appeared from a small wood nearby, but instead of her predatory stalk she had an alarmed look upon her face and was running as fast as she could towards the group. The other Spartans immediately changed to state of combat readiness all of them with weapons raised, looking for any possible threat behind Olivia. Fred was the nearest and he ran to meet her. Kelly was too far away to hear what they were saying but Olivia was pointing over towards an area of the surrounding woodland that seemed to be far denser than the rest.  
Fred quickly came over towards the rest of the group before briefing them on the situation.

"Olivia has found a small structure hidden within the wood over to the East; it looks like it could be a doorway of some kind."

Dr. Halsey's eyes were suddenly filled with excitement and she immediately started to pack her things in anticipation of some great exploration, but Fred stopped her before she could power-down her portable terminal.

"We need to check it out first doctor."

Her look of excitement briefly changed to frustration, but she quickly accepted the situation and allowed her Spartans to do their job.  
Linda, Fred and Olivia quietly moved off towards the densely packed woodland for a look at the structure, whilst the others gathered the remaining weapons and ammunition.

"Now we all have a mission." Catherine whispered to herself

**May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)**

John walked silently towards the next doorway, hugging the shadows between the countless huge bulkheads in a corridor that better resembled a never-ending hangar bay. Cortana had concluded that the faint life-form reading was about 4 levels down and had remained stationary since they entered, but beyond that there was little she could find out.  
Her attempts at finding out more about this ancient structure had been blocked at every occasion, despite the ease at which she had hacked her way into other Forerunner systems this one was proving to be a much harder nut to crack.  
The only hypothesis that she had developed was that the structure was part of a much larger network on the planet, and was designed to help shield the world through a form of camouflage technology. In addition to this there were several weapons pylons scattered in and around the various structures and each one was probably more than capable of destroying a Covenant capital ship with a single hit.  
The energy source for all of this firepower was buried deep below the surface, and besides a few isolated pockets of exposed camouflage on the surface it was functioning perfectly, even after all of this time.

All along the vast corridor were dozens of the familiar Forerunner styled doorway's, and rows of sentinel ports all of which appeared to be sealed.  
After several minutes of walking the corridor came to an abrupt end where a single lift shaft was located, Cortana indicated that the only way down was via the lift so John activated the control panel and they were quickly plunged into a huge subterranean cavern that was bathed entirely in blue light. The route down took them past three other levels all of which vaguely resembled the underground structures in the first Halo, the only difference, as John pointed out, was that they seemed better designed for a defensive fight. Instead of a single winding level there was a multitude of steadily ascending floors for each level and dozens of bulkheads and doorways, all of which could probably be sealed and defended with heavy weaponry.  
The ring-like halos were a thing of beauty whereas this structure had been designed with the single purpose of exterminating the Flood, without killing all other sentient life in the galaxy. It seemed that this planet was the prototype in a war with an enemy that could literally devour whole worlds.  
The fourth level was almost identical to the other three above it but with subtle differences. Instead of several defensive floors this level had two main floors and was filled with sentinel ports.

"It would seem that this is a command level of some kind, responsible for the floors above it in case of a breach." Surmised Cortana

"If that's the case then who's been left in charge?" enquired John

The lift came to a stop but from the transparent floor, John could see countless levels below that eventually vanished into the distant shadow.

"The life-form readings are about 200 metres ahead chief," Informed Cortana

John slowly walked from the lift towards the faint reading in the next chamber; rifle at the ready.  
After following the waypoints in his helmet display, John entered a single large chamber. Flowing from the surrounding walls were a multitude of cables and pipes that all lead to a centrally located chair. Sat within the chair was a humanoid figure that appeared older than the structure itself.  
The figure appeared to be male and was around six and a half feet tall with a slender build and a pale complexion.  
John suddenly realised what he might be looking at, but Cortana had already drawn up her own conclusions as soon as they had entered the chamber.

"A Forerunner!" gasped Cortana

**November 7th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)**

Linda and Fred crawled along the ground towards the area that Olivia had indicated but all they could see was more trees.

Fred opened the secure COM channel "Where is it?" he whispered

"Over there," replied Olivia with a pointed finger

"I don't see anything," said Fred "there's just trees."

"Exactly, I wouldn't have seen it either until I walked into it. It seems to use some kind of camouflage technology." Said Olivia

Fred crept closer to the group of trees ahead and then suddenly found himself inside a sheltered doorway. He glanced behind and saw Olivia and Linda looking at him, even with their helmets back on he could tell they were puzzled.

To those outside of the camouflage it appeared as though Fred had no torso but his legs were still visible, something which made Linda cringe at the sight of.

Fred stood up and then walked out of the camouflage field and indicated to Olivia and Linda to come forward.

Olivia walked forward first followed by a more hesitant Linda. All of her Spartan training told her not to walk in, but this unusual doorway was the best hope of finding a way out.

The doorway itself was in keeping with the rest of the Forerunner technology that Fred had seen on Onyx, its cool metallic facing was highlighted with wisps of iridescent blue light. To the right of the doorway was a single control panel that was illuminated by a single red light, it did not take much imagination for Fred to figure out that the door was locked.

"Linda, go and get Dr. Halsey. We'll have to see if she knows a way to bypass the security system."

Linda acknowledged the order and darted off towards the camp as fast as she could.

* * *

**Part 6**

May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)

John stood silent for several minutes, staring at the ancient figure before him. Cortana was the first to overcome her own amazement and asked the chief to move forward towards one of the many panels that were located around the chamber.

Once they were close enough, Cortana moved from the relative safety of John's armour and into the Forerunner computer. From here she was able to fully appreciate the technology involved.

Unlike her previous attempts to circumvent the running software, she was now able to access almost every area of the computer. The only area that eluded her curious grasp was the impressive weapon system that both Reach and Earth could have used in their defence. Instead Reach had fallen and had taken many Human and Covenant lives in the process, and Earth had been saved after good fortune had broken the Covenant in two providing the UNSC with a valuable ally.

But that was why Cortana chose John as her operations platform, because of his good fortune.

Cortana suddenly appeared on the computer console as a hologram.

"Chief don't go anywhere, I'm going to have a look at the data stored in the Forerunner system," said Cortana

"And here was me, planning a vacation." Replied John with a sarcastic tone

Cortana tilted her illuminated head and stared at John with a small smile on her face. "Funny chief, very funny,"

John carefully walked around the chamber, avoiding the many cables that lead to the Forerunner sat in the throne like chair. He was unsure if the figure was encased within some form of stasis field or if the cables were ferrying a level of energy that would fry his Mjonir armour.

It seemed odd to John that this ancient being was so exposed. There was no sign of a monitor, and none of the sentinels were active. The events on the previous Halo's and the Ark should have initiated or activated something here. The presence of the Flood on the Ark and Earth should have done something, but instead a Forerunner shield world was here in plain sight with a dormant or inactive defence system.

But then John remembered. Forerunner technology and the puzzles and questions associated with them were never a simple thing that you could explain away at random. There was always something around the corner that you had not taken into account.

"Chief!" shouted Cortana

John quickly moved back to where the computer console and Cortana were.

"What is it?"

"I've found the Library in the system," she replied

"Like the one from the Halo's?"

"Yes, but I can access this one remotely and there is more information here than anyone could ever imagine." Cortana explained

"Like what?" enquired John

"All of their history, and I mean everything." Said Cortana with an excited tone

**November 7th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)**

Linda returned to the camouflaged doorway with the doctor in tow, her heavy technical case was being carried by Kelly. Despite the weight of the case, her speed had not in anyway been affected. It was as though she was carrying a box full of air. Dr. Halsey stopped at the edge of the field and placed her hands on her hips until she caught her breath. Even when her Spartans moved slower than usual it was still hard to keep up with them.  
The area in front of her was noticeably different, but only because she knew where to look and what it was. The Covenant version of the active camouflage system was very similar to this Forerunner version and it was possible that the Covenant had probably adapted the alien technology at point in the past.  
Catherine had seen its deadly effectiveness from the surveillance footage taken by her Spartans on operational deployments, and the terrified first-hand accounts of survivors. But this version just seemed more polished than the Covenant version; the spatial distortion around the edge of the field was not as great as that on the Covenant system. If her Spartans were to be equipped with this kind of technology they would be even more deadly.

After a brief look at the surrounding area, Catherine slowly walked into the camouflaged field and was immediately greeted with the Forerunner doorway and a pair of inquisitive Spartans, in this case Fred and Olivia.  
The door was typical of the type of the technology that she had seen before. The switch to the right of the entrance was illuminated by a single red light, an obvious indication that it was locked.  
Kelly set down the technical case next to Dr. Halsey and backed away slowly so she could watch her work. The Spartans were faster and stronger than any other Human but they were always dumbfounded when watching the doctor perform technical miracles.  
Catherine pulled three, multi-coloured coax cables from the case and attached them to face of the switch. After several minutes of adjustments and a flurry of command inputs on her data pad, the light changed from red to green.

The Spartans quickly moved Catherine and her equipment away from the entrance and readied themselves for some much needed exploration.  
Fred pressed the switch and the two sections of the door silently parted, before they cautiously entered the shell of the Dyson-sphere.

**May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)**

John cautiously waited as Cortana trawled through the immense wealth of information that was now available. Her glowing skin was covered in the usual collection of unrecognisable hieroglyphs, except this time they were racing across her at an unbelievable speed.  
John quickly realised that the amount of information that she was processing was far greater than he had initially imagined.

"Cortana." Asked John

No answer came from her as she increased the speed of her processing until her blue body became a mind-numbing blur.

"Cortana!" bellowed John

Cortana rapidly shifted from her previous pace of processing to a more familiar gentle glide of blue lines and shapes. The expression on her face conveyed the depth of data that was now available to her.

"What have you found?" asked John in a relaxed tone

Cortana's eyes repeatedly darted left and right, as though reading some invisible lexicon of information. Eventually she refocused on John, who was standing expectantly in front of the main Forerunner console.

"The amount of data here chief… is beyond imagining," Cortana struggled to convey the information she was now in possession of. "I know everything about the Forerunners. Their history, the Flood and the wars they fought."

"Wars?" enquired John "How many times did they fight the Flood?"

"They weren't at war with just the Flood there was another enemy, before the Flood. It was because of this old enemy that they created the Flood, to fight for the Forerunners not against them." She explained

"I think you should start at the beginning."

"Over three million years ago the Forerunners were at war with an equally advanced species that they simply called "The Enemy".

But this enemy was different to the Forerunners, even though both sides possessed advanced technology, The Enemy had the ability to partially adapt to possible threats. Their bodies and the armour they wore were capable of absorbing or deflecting some forms of energy, kinetic force and even deadly viral infections."

Cortana paused briefly as though catching her breath, even though she had no need for oxygen.

"The Forerunners didn't create the Flood by accident they made them to fight. The Flood are capable of killing and infecting even the hardiest of defenders, and they proved to be too much for this enemy."

"So what happened to this enemy?" John asked

"I don't know. A lot of the entries that are present in the library have been corrupted by the amount of time that has passed since this planet was constructed, and there other areas that I can't access because of this. The same goes for the sensor systems and the camouflage technology."

"So what's this planet for?"

"At first I thought that this world was a prototype, designed to fight the Flood, but it's not. This planet was designed and built as a defence platform, to be used against the Forerunners old enemy, a good old fashioned fortress or outpost. But instead of a world surrounded by ships and orbital platforms, the Forerunners have gone a step further and enveloped the entire planet in a kind of camouflage so that it wouldn't be found in the first place."

John began to think of the possibilities of the technology available here. If Humanity had discovered a world like this during the war, then a lot of lives would have been saved.

"If this was a world built to fight this…enemy, then does that mean the Flood won't be contained here?"

"I'm not sure chief; they were present on every other Forerunner structure. But then the Halo's were designed with the Flood in mind and their research program was continued until the very last moment. Then the rings were fired all those years ago." Replied Cortana

John looked over at the pale faced Forerunner at the centre of the room, his stillness made John somewhat uneasy.

"What about him?"

"Before they used autonomous monitors, the Forerunners facilities were guarded and maintained by live members of their society. At the time it was the most reliable method of ensuring the operational status of wherever they were." She explained

"So how do we wake him up?"

"We can't chief, he's in some kind of temporal stasis field. By all accounts he's not even in this room; he's separated from us by a bubble of slip-space. However, if the computer system was running properly I could probably access his monitoring directive, and speak to him.

"If the systems on this world are so corrupted, why has the monitor not dispatched a couple of sentinels to fix them?" John enquired

"I don't know, he either doesn't want to or he's unable." Replied Cortana

Cortana closed her eyes and went into another blur of processing, her skin made for a dizzying sight. After several minutes passed she returned with a way to solve their dilemma.

"I could re-boot the whole system that should fix most of the glitches and reset the security and sensor directives."

"You want to re-boot a planet?" said John with a hint of sarcasm

"I know it sounds extreme, but it may be our best way of finding out where we are."

"Do it." Stated John

Cortana closed her eyes again and then the lights suddenly dimmed. A faint vibration emanated from beneath Johns feet, but it was nothing of concern. Then everything suddenly went dark. John activated his night vision and he could see the rest of the room again, but Cortana had vanished from sight. He was suddenly filled with concern once again.  
But as quickly as the darkness had descended it was immediately lifted and room was illuminated once again and Cortana reappeared at the computer console.

"Re-boot complete…all systems online…defence program active…sensors active…archive active. Everything's back on chief now we can find out exactly where we…-" Cortana cut off in mid conversation and looked around as though scanning the massive data files once more.

"What is it?" asked John

"The whole planet wasn't just shielded by a camouflage field; it was immersed in a form of slip-space as well. But the faults that were present in both enabled us to see and land on the planet. But there were rips and tears in the field that distorted everything. That was why I was only activated at the last minute instead of from a safe distance. The sensors that I had working on the Forward unto Dawn were unable to detect the planet, but we entered through one of the slip-space gaps. After that everything was distorted, time, space everything." Explained Cortana with a tone of excitement

"So what does that mean?"

"We weren't drifting in space for 314 years chief. We were only out there for twenty four days." Replied Cortana

John felt something that he had not felt for a long time, happiness. Earth would still be there and there was hope once more for his team to be alive.

"What about our location?" asked John

"Scanning," Cortana moved a flurry of speed again before continuing "There is a vast network of levels and chambers all over the planet, but each weapons platform is separate from the rest and is independently powered. We are four levels down but this chamber goes down another thirty levels."

"How far is Earth?"

"Unfortunately Earth is over sixty thousand light years from here, but if we can find a ship there should be no reason why we can't get back in good time, especially with Forerunner technology."

"Then let's get going. We have a ship to find." Replied John

"Wait chief, there's an alarm in the system-the internal sensors have detected something,"

"What?" said John

"Us!" replied Cortana

Cortana activated the display screen at the end of the chamber which showed the corridor where the sentinel hatches were located. All of them were open and hundreds of the single-eyed drones were hurtling in their direction.

"Let's prepare a worthy welcome for our guests then." Stated John as he readied his assault rifle and pulled out the last of his grenades.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Part 7

**Part 7**

November 7th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)

Fred took a few cautious steps forward into the interior of the doorway. He half expected to be struck down with some ancient weapon from a waiting sentinel, but instead there was nothing but silence.

The doorway opened onto a small platform which had a solid wall on the right, and what appeared to be a single large pane of glass on the left. The route ahead moved from the small platform and steadily descended down a ramp and round to the left.

Behind him Dr. Halsey was attempting to squeeze through the wall of Spartans in an effort to see what lay beyond the doorway, but none of the Spartans, new or old, would let her past. Her curiosity was getting the better of her and she needed answers quickly, if she was to open the Cryo-tubes.

Fred was in two minds as to who should take point. Olivia was quick and as stealthy as a cat, but Fred's Mjolnir armour was able to withstand more punishment, should they run into trouble. In the end he took on the responsibility himself and pushed ahead, following the ramp down into the interior of the Dyson sphere.

Linda and Olivia cautiously followed him in, weapons at the ready, whilst Kelly and the doctor were told to wait at the entrance, in case they needed any assistance.

The corridor descended steadily for several levels and it appeared no different to the bowels of Onyx that they had explored only a few days earlier. The unusual glass-like material gave way to another solid wall as they reached another sub-level, where the corridor ended, blocked by another door. But this time it was unlocked.

"Obviously the Forerunners thought that no one would penetrate the outer door." Fred whispered to himself

Fred felt more comfortable with their progress and was now happy to send Olivia forward to investigate the area beyond the door. She acknowledged with a simple nod, and quietly crept towards the end of the corridor.

Olivia was more than familiar by now with the motion sensors on the Forerunner doorways. She knew where the sensing area was and remained just beyond its detection. The last thing that she wanted to do was bound into the next room only to be confronted by a Covenant army or something worse.

In the time that they had spent on this shield world, Olivia, along with the rest of the Spartans, had been privy to a wealth of information that Dr. Halsey had divulged with them. During her transit towards Onyx, the doctor had procured an updated intelligence report on their war with the Covenant, which she later shared with the rest of the stranded group. But it was the report on John's encounter with the ring-like structure that had created the greatest amount of interest, especially with the newer Spartans.

To them, John seemed to be twice as big and twice as fast as the rest of the SPARTAN II's, but Kelly often reminded them it was her that was the fastest, although she couldn't deny that John was indeed an exceptional soldier.

His previous actions had no doubt caused serious problems within the Covenant, and their relentless march of conquest had faltered as a result. But now they were on Earth, attempting to destroy the very heart of Humanity.

For Olivia the Invasion of Earth was literally light-years away, and the Covenant had never overly concerned her, despite her age. Even the Hunters were just another target.

It was the other species from the ring that had made her skin crawl. The Flood, they were different to the Covenant and Humanity in every way. To them it did not matter whose side you were on. You were just food, just another host to an organism with an unending appetite for all who stood in their way.

Olivia slowly moved into the sensor range, and the door silently opened.

Inside was an empty chamber, about fifty metres in diameter and at the centre of the room were a control panel and a holographic plinth. The surrounding walls were arched in towards the centre point of the ceiling, where a small inverted dome was located.

Olivia moved further inside, followed by Fred and Linda. They quickly checked the area and surmised that the room was empty, save for the control panel and an isolated lift at the far end of the chamber.

Fred walked up to the panel and gazed at the alien symbols floating across its display. He was compelled to press one of the symbols, but without a good understanding of the language, he could accidentally activate some sort of self-destruct sequence.

Fred activated the secure COM channel and selected Kelly's ID on the network menu.

"Kelly, bring Dr. Halsey down, I have something she needs to see."

May 18th 2866 (Location Unknown)

John dived out of the way of the nearest sentinel beam, which scorched the metal floor where he was stood only seconds before. He rolled to the side, rose up on one knee and fired a short burst from his assault rifle. The sentinel exploded, showering half a dozen of the Forerunner automatons with shrapnel, which in turn fell from the air, damaged by the explosion of their comrade.

These older sentinels were proving an easier target, as they were not equipped with any form of shielding. They were also less maneuverable than their more up to date counterparts from the halo structures, but there hundreds of them and they were all after a single target, John.

John glanced over at Cortana, who by now was busily sifting through the security directive in an effort to stall or stop the attack.

Another glaring beam struck out at John, but he rolled back behind the cover of the Main computer console.

"Cortana any time is good, but now would be better!" yelled John

Another wave of sentinels fired their beam weapons at the console, causing significant damage. John returned fire and another three sentinels fell to the floor in a broken heap.

John grabbed his last grenade and set the fuse to 1 second, pulled the pin and threw it at the mass of hovering sentinels, causing a chain reaction of explosions as it detonated. The sentinels, as though startled by this display of determination, cautiously back away from the chamber before re-grouping and attacking in pairs, in an attempt to outflank the target.

John replied with another thunderous volley of weapons fire from his assault rifle, downing the first two pairs.

The third and fourth pair continued their advance, firing as they moved.

John darted left then right, narrowly avoiding the superheated beams as they carved a smouldering scar in the floor and nearby wall.

"Got it!" shouted Cortana

All of the sentinels suddenly stopped firing, and then slowly glided off towards the large corridor where their hatches were located.

John carefully rose up from behind the damaged computer console, watching the sentinels as they disappeared from view.

"I take it you found the security directive," said John

"It wasn't easy chief, the Forerunner was trying everything to stop me from overriding the system." Replied Cortana

John looked back at the Forerunner in the chair; his pale, comatose appearance had been replaced by a face filled with life and activity. Somehow he looked younger than before.

"What did you do to him?" asked John

"Nothing serious, I just demoted him to monitoring a non-essential system on one of the deeper sub-levels. But he now knows that we're not here to harm him or the facility."

"How did you convince him?

"I just told him the truth, that you were a Reclaimer."

John looked back at Cortana with interest. "I've heard this title over and over from the monitors of Halo, but what does it mean?"

"When the Forerunners were at war with "The Enemy", they created numerous different species in an effort to continue their legacy, should things go horribly wrong. Humanity was one of those species, and the structure on Earth was there as a reminder of the Forerunners history, along with a library, so that Humanity would be able to take their place when the time was right." Explained Cortana

John moved closer to Cortana before asking another question.

"So what about the Covenant?" John enquired.

"Just the same, but with different DNA." replied Cortana

"So Humanity and the Covenant are just like two children from the same family, fighting for recognition." Stated John

"In a way." Replied Cortana with a surprised expression, as though stunned by John's take on the whole situation. "I suppose that's one way you could put it."

Suddenly the lights dimmed again and the pale-blue lines throughout the room changed to a striking red.

"Cortana?" asked John

Cortana spoke briefly before a look of shock filled her blue face, "Nothing to do with me chief, the systems just went…oh my,"

"What is it?"

"The whole planet has just gone into some kind of lockdown, and the weapon systems are now online," Cortana glared at a blank area of space in front of her, as though she was scanning the system again. "I thought that's what I saw."

"Saw what Cortana?" said John loudly

"There's an enemy ship in orbit, it arrived only a few seconds ago."

"Which enemy?" asked John with a curious tone

Cortana came back with an answer that he did not expect, "The Enemy, the Forerunners enemy!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 8**

November 7th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)

Catherine ran down the ramp with so much enthusiasm that she almost fell flat on her face, her arms and legs seemed to cartwheel in an uncoordinated fashion as the gradient of the ramp took hold. Even Kelly was surprised by the doctors sudden burst of speed.  
The open chamber where Fred, Olivia and Linda were located was illuminated by a single soft light, emanating from a small dome at the centre of the ceiling. Everything else in the chamber seemed unusually dark apart from the computer console which was covered by the bright alien symbols. Fred had maintained his distance from the console, so as not to be tempted by curiosity to press anything and accidentally activate some archaic system or thousands of Forerunner sentinels. The last thing they needed was an active threat especially with the doctor around.

Catherine bounded into the chamber with Kelly not far behind, the doctors eyes suddenly widened with barely subdued excitement. Kelly had thought that the whole planet should have been under a giant Forerunner Christmas tree, wrapped in a large red ribbon.  
Catherine gazed around the chamber in amazement as though it was her first endeavor into a Forerunner structure, but she was always in awe of the technological feats that were performed by them. They could create whole worlds that would dwarf anything made by the Covenant and their ships could withstand unbelievable damage. Something that Humanity could do with.  
Fred snapped the doctor back from her daydream, "Doctor, here's the console."  
Catherine cleared her throat with a small cough, trying to regain some of her composure, but her childlike enthusiasm was proving difficult to contain.  
"Of course Fred," replied Catherine "Kelly could you bring my case down from the entrance please?"  
Kelly nodded and then ran up the slope with her familiar teeth-jarring speed, returning with the heavy carry-case before the doctor had even reached the console.

Catherine stood silently at the console for several minutes before pressing one of the floating symbols on the small holographic display. The room seemed to dim slightly before a large holographic sphere appeared at the centre of the chamber. To the left of the sphere were eight glowing orbs.  
The uppermost orb was brighter than the rest and had a slightly more ornate appearance, whilst the fourth one down glowed less than all the others and was pale red in colour, whereas the remaining ones were all illuminated with a light wash of amber.  
Catherine steadily rotated the large sphere and then magnified the image; it quickly became apparent that the sphere was a graphical representation of the world that they were on.

"What are those?" pointed Linda at the smaller orbs.

Catherine reduced the magnification and switched the view to the vertical line of orbs, focusing on the fourth one down. She zoomed in to the orb and then realised that it was not an orb at all, but an illuminated ring.  
"It's Halo," stated Catherine "well, it's the one that John destroyed anyway the other orbs must be different Halo's."  
"Is this some kind of control room?" interrupted Fred  
"No it seems to be more of a map room or navigation chamber, this must be how the Forerunners on this construct monitored or coordinated their planned survival against the Flood."

"But they didn't survive doctor." coughed Olivia.

"No, no they didn't." replied Catherine with a disappointed tone.

"But we will." Voiced Fred

Catherine continued her exploration of the hologram, concentrating on the Dyson-Sphere. So far her venture had only succeeded in locating the sections responsible for the power grid, and the artificial star at the centre. The system and the planet were vast in size and a lot of time would be wasted looking for a control room or something similar, even a maintenance room would have sufficed, but Catherine was have no luck in finding either.

"I sure wish Cortana was here." Catherine whispered to herself.

**March 27th 2553 (Location unknown)  
**

John was thrown onto the floor as the structure seemed to lurch and heave beneath his feet. Cortana activated the view screen at the end of the chamber and the image of an unfamiliar ship appeared.  
Unlike all of the Forerunner designs that John had seen before, this craft was more angular in appearance with a series of sharp angled facets on its exposed ventral side. It looked dark and heavily armoured, as though Humans had attempted to build a Covenant capital ship with the UNSC's entire collection of Titanium, but this was much, much bigger.  
Along each side of the ship were a series of pylons and pod like structures, all arrayed on something faintly reminiscent of a delta wing, which gave the ship an eerie but deadly appearance.

"That's the Forerunners enemy?" shouted John in the drowning noise.

"Yes, it must have been alerted to the planet's location when I reactivated the systems. All of the nearside weapons platforms are preparing to fire at the alien vessel."

John regained his balance only to be thrown to the floor a second time when the Forerunner weapons fired. He glanced at the display which showed the alien ship rolling to the side, narrowly avoiding the initial barrage. It returned fire with bright lances of green fire, striking a weapons pylon only 20 miles away.  
The ground heaved again with another volley, but this time the barrage found its mark.  
Six streaks of blue lightning impacted on the belly of the alien ship, causing its hull to ripple with a series of cascading explosions. Amazingly the ship was still functioning and replied with another deadly lance of green fire, but this time it was much closer to the structure where John and Cortana were.  
John thought that the thunderous sound of the blast and the immense vibrations shooting beneath his feet foretold of his imminent death, but somehow the structure survived the detonation. But as they view the carnage outside on the view screen both Cortana and John could see that the surrounding mountains of sand were now molten shapes of glittering glass, and there was no sign of the Pelican.

The Forerunner weapons fired a third time, but this time there was no reply from the alien vessel. Instead its damaged shape started to list violently before slowly succumbing to the gravity well of the planet.  
Cortana maintained her observation of the mammoth-sized ship as it plunged through the atmosphere, on a dreadfully close trajectory towards the ground.

"Chief, I'd hold on to something!" yelped Cortana

John ran over to an area near the dormant Forerunner in the throne-like chair and wedged his armoured shape into a gap between the consoles, where his maintained an iron-like grip on the opposing bench.  
John watched with gritted teeth as the ship pulled up at the last moment from its steep descent, but the momentum proved too much and the ship's great belly splashed on the surface, before rolling over a dozen times in a corkscrew effect until it came to rest with a broken back.  
The resulting impact had shaken the chamber they were in and the empty cases that were scattered around on the metal floor had been forced to dance and skip with the vibration. In any other situation the sound of the spent cases jumping around on the floor would have been deafening, but the crashing ship was doing a much better job of destroying John's eardrums.  
The sound filtering system in his Mjolnir armour was doing its best to drown out the sound, but the intensity of volume being emitted was too much.

Once the dust and molten glass had settled, Cortana magnified the image of the broken vessel. She was amazed that the battered ship had survived the crash relatively intact, save for the huge tear across its dorsal section. Cortana knew that a ship of that size and mass with the damage inflicted by the Forerunner weapon system should have been shattered, but here she was looking at a shape that still resembled a space faring vessel.

Cortana expected to see nothing further from the smoldering hulk, but she was alarmed when she saw movement.

At first it was difficult to make out, but then the familiar shape of something humanoid became increasingly apparent. And then she saw another and another, until there were twelve dark figures moving slowly but menacingly towards the facility.  
John shook his dazed and spinning head and then slowly pulled himself up, propping himself against one of the consoles until he regained his balance.  
Cortana followed the slow deliberate approach of the dark figures until they were at the entrance where they had previously entered. Immediately several antenna-like protrusions extended from around the doorway before striking out at the figures with bright blue arcs of fire.  
The light display was immense and Cortana was forced to reduce the brightness of the screen so she could still she what was happening.  
Only one of the figures had fallen from the fire, smoke rising from its seared torso, but the rest continued on into the doorway before silencing the Forerunner security system with their own weapons.  
Several seconds later an explosion ripped open the large heavy door and the remaining eleven humanoids walked steadily inside.

It was only here that both she and John were able to make out enough detail of the walking figures, they were all wearing some kind power armour similar to John's but obviously capable of receiving a great deal more damage than any form of Mjolnir suit.

Cortana strained at the image, "I'm sending in the sentinels."

John glanced over at Cortana and then back at the dark figures, several seconds later hundreds of sentinels opened fire at the strolling aliens.  
Unlike John's initial fight with the automated guardians in the narrow entrance way to the chamber, where he could channel them, these aliens were in a much wider corridor.  
John could probably have parked two or three Scorpion tanks sided by side and still have room to walk around them.  
There was no cover, not that the aliens sought any. It was as though they were oblivious to the threat of the sentinels.  
Then one of the figures fell to the storm of fire, and then another and another, before the aliens returned fire at the metallic swarm. In one single retaliatory blast over a hundred sentinels dropped from the air, damaged beyond repair by a zigzagging streak of green lightning.  
One after the other the rest of the aliens opened fire at the sentinels until all of them were lying in a smoldering heap on the scorched metal floor.

Cortana immediately looked over at John, "I think you better go chief."

"And go where exactly?" he replied

A faint wash of panic and then frustration covered Cortana's glowing face, "Damn you're stubborn," Muttered Cortana "very well I'm securing all of the doors and walkways on this level and the ones above, it should buy us some time."

John collected all of his weapons and ammunition that he had left from his battle with the sentinels.  
In all he had 83 rounds from his assault rifle, 97 rounds for the battle rifle, 1 Lotus anti-tank mine, an M6C magnum with 18 rounds and an M19 SSM rocket launcher with 2 rockets.  
On any other day and against any other enemy john would have had a field day, even against the Covenant. But here he had to admit it, these aliens, this enemy of the Forerunners was something entirely different.

John laid all of his weapons on the floor behind the consoles that were in the middle of the room, and placed the Lotus mine near the locked doorway. If he was to inflict any significant damage he had to make sure that the majority of the aliens were well inside the chamber before he could remotely detonate the mine.  
A dull explosion sounded from above them, "Hurry chief!" warned Cortana.  
John glanced around the chamber at the walls and the floor, trying to think of some way to slow the aliens down. There were several of the damaged sentinels lying on the floor

"What sort of power source do these sentinels have?" asked John

"A form of plasma fusion, why?"

John smiled inside his helmet, "I think I've just found some more mines."

As fast as he could, John carefully extracted the fusion cores from the fallen sentinels and connected them all to a damaged power conduit in the wall.  
Once he was ready he stood ready, behind the nearest row of computer terminal and consoles. In his hand he had the rocket launcher, with his battle rifle secured on his back and the pistol on his mag-plated thigh.  
Another explosion echoed inside the structure, but this one was much closer. John double checked his weapons a fourth time and waited.

A further explosion sounded, but this one ripped open the chamber door, sending broken sections of the door in all directions. John ducked just in time as the main bulk of the fragmented door flew just over his head.

John quickly recovered and aimed at the nearest alien, before squeezing the firing trigger on the M19 rocket launcher.

* * *

**Part 9**

March 27th 2553 (Location unknown)

A deep pop echoed from the front of the rocket launcher as the solid propellant was ignited, and the four retaining pins were released. For a split second it seemed as though the launcher was faulty, until the quiet pop was replaced by a deafening roar as the rocket screamed towards the nearest alien.  
The rocket hit the alien square in the face and exploded with enough force to destroy a Warthog, as a result it was thrown against the nearest wall, landing with a bone shattering crunch.  
Despite the direct hit to the face, which was now a semi-molten blob, the main bulk of the alien had somehow remained intact.

John had previously turned Covenant Wraith tanks and the lumbering Hunters into smouldering wrecks in his encounters, with successive hits from a rocket launcher. But here was an alien no bigger than himself, clad in some kind of power armour that, despite being dead, still had all of its limbs attached after being hit by an M19.  
Just as the launcher had completed its automatic re-load of the second and last rocket, John turned to the next alien in line and squeezed the trigger.  
Even with knowledge of the outcome, the alien made no attempt to evade its impending demise, and as a result it was thrown against the wall, knocking two of its comrades onto the floor that fell directly on top of the string of fusion cores.  
John dived to the floor, behind the Forerunner computer terminal just as Cortana activated a power surge in the damaged conduit. The line of sentinel cores exploded in a blinding display of light, sending two more of the aliens to their deaths, but that still left another four.

John popped his head above the computer terminal to see where they were stood, but this time they had stopped, as though assessing the effectiveness of their new threat. All John needed was for them walk forward another metre or so and they would be directly next to the LOTUS anti-tank mine.  
John frowned in his helmet, staring at the dark figures. "What are they doing?"  
"I think they're trying to figure you out, see how much of a threat you are. Three hundred sentinels couldn't stop them but one Spartan seems to be more of a handful." Examined Cortana  
Just as Cortana finished her sentence, one of the aliens raised its black gauntlet at John and a strange fizzing sound filled the chamber.

"Get down!" warned Cortana.

John fired a quick burst from his BR55 Battle rifle as he dived for cover, but the brief storm of bullets did little to deter the alien.  
A second later and the room was filled with cascading bolts of iridescent green light. The computer terminal took most of the blast, but the alien energy seemed to worm and slither its way around as though looking for its target. Several smaller strands of lightning sprang from the smoking computer console, striking John and the surrounding area.  
His Mjolnir armour seemed to flex in the flowing energy, as if it was being slowly pulled apart and then he heard a distinctive pop as his shields failed.  
Bright pin-pricks of pain surged from his legs and arms, followed by waves of intense heat and nausea. John thought he was physically on fire until he managed to open his stinging eyes to see the energy finally dissipating.

"Chief!" yelled Cortana "The mine!"

John pulled his aching head up and around the computer terminal to see the remaining aliens slowly lumbering forward, into the killing radius of the anti-tank mine.  
With his body still reeling from the energy weapon, John reached over and grabbed the LOTUS remote firing trigger. The pistol grip sized device was illuminated by a single display that read "SAFE" in bright green letters.  
John toggled the switch and the previous display was changed to "ARMED" in a menacing red glow, before he pressed the spring loaded trigger.  
The anti-tank mine shattered like glass before exploding, sending three of the aliens in all directions, one of which was struck by the shaped charge. The fourth was thrown against the nearest terminal followed by a storm of fist sized mine fragments.  
John slowly pulled himself upright and then felt a warm wet trickle on his top lip, he tasted blood.  
The alien attack and the succession of explosions without his shields had caused several small blood vessels to burst, it was nothing serious but his head was aching and his limbs felt as though they had be pulled off and re-attached by a blind field surgeon.

The chamber that was previously immaculate and quiet was now covered in small fragments of metal and debris. Along the floor and walls near the entrance were several charred blast marks where the fusion cores and the LOTUS mine had been.  
The darkly armoured figures were spread around the room in a varying degree of rag-doll poses, as though a giant hand had just thrown them around.  
The nearest alien, slumped against the terminal, was the only one that still looked completely intact, save for a small pot-marked area on its back.  
John was taking no chances and levelled his Battle rifle at the aliens head.  
The alien suddenly turned to face John, arms raised, knocking the weapon from his hands. Now that he was closer John could make out far more detail of the dark armour than before.

The head was a series of angled plates or panels with two red slit-shaped eyes that were devoid of pupils or anything similar, but it looked as though this was part of the armour and not the aliens' eyes.  
The mouth area was another collection of angled plates as was the majority of the armour, but unlike the rest of its bulkier body, the arms seemed thinner almost insect like in nature with a single row of small jagged barbs where each elbow was located.  
John had seen enough, and powered a single fist as hard as he could into the aliens' angled face.  
Initially the dark material that covered the helmet seemed to absorb the impact like sponge, but then he felt resistance and the alien helmet crumpled, sending the alien sliding along the hard metal floor before coming to a stop next to the rest of its dead comrades.

John surveyed the scene before him and silently counted his blessings.  
When he had fought against the Covenant and even the Flood, John had simply done what was required to achieve his mission and to survive, and even though his experience with the Flood was somewhat unpleasant he always saw them as an opponent that could be defeated.  
But this enemy of the Forerunners was something else entirely. They had easily destroyed hundreds of sentinels and breached the armoured exterior of the facility in a matter of minutes.  
He had been lucky this time, exceptionally lucky. A few more of the aliens and the situation would have quickly become more than difficult.  
John thought about Cortana's warning for him to escape before the aliens reached the chamber, he could understand her concern. If anything happened to him she would be stranded here, without the ability to physically move around, but worse than that she would be alone.  
John looked over at her and Cortana turned to meet his gaze, her usually calm appearance had changed to something else. Her eyes, despite being a holographic projection based on the interpretation of data from her core, showed more emotion than usual, they showed relief.  
She had gone from his friend and guide to an electronic surrogate, concerned for her distant child. But John recognised this look; it was the same anxious stare that Dr Halsey had displayed when he returned from his first combat mission.

"Cortana, you remember when I said next time let's try something harder?"

"Yes."

"I was joking." Replied John

**November 10th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)  
**

Catherine peered over the rim her glasses at the large revolving hologram; her eyes were dry and stinging with fatigue.  
She had spent three long days searching the schematics of the sphere for something that would help them, anything that would provide them with the proverbial key for unlocking the Cryo-tubes. But that was not their only concern.  
Despite the apparent safety from the Covenant and anyone else they were still stranded, without a means of transport they would be staying here for the rest of their lives.  
With that in mind Catherine had included anything that resembled a ship or hangar bay along with another slip-space portal.

Kelly walked up and handed over a steaming cup of coffee, "Here doctor, drink this."  
The ration-pack coffee was the only thing that was keeping her awake at the moment, along with the occasional nudge from Chief Mendez.  
The chief had made his way inside after Catherine's' first day of searching had turned up nothing of interest; the only thing that peaked her enthusiasm was the environmental controls for the Dyson sphere. Here she could change the temperature and weather of the habitable area to suit their needs. This was presumably for accelerating the growth of the vegetation that covered all that they could see.  
Mendez glanced up at the doctor as she hugged the hot cup in her hands, his eyes stood out in the pale light, "You should take a rest."  
Catherine slowly stood up with a jaw-dislocating yawn and removed her glasses, folding them away into her lab coat.  
She briefly rubbed her eyes before joining Chief Mendez at the other end of the room, where the lift shaft was located.  
The decision to place a sentry at the lift had been Fred's idea, but everyone knew it was just another way of giving a group of hardened soldiers something to do, to keep their minds focused as much as possible.

Catherine sat down on one of the small logistical cases.  
She lifted the hot cup to her nose, smelling the coffee.  
The strong smell was a welcomed break from the surgically sterilized environment that was now their home. Even the flowers outside were almost odourless.  
The Forerunners had been the most advanced species in the known universe at one time, and they had achieved what the Covenant could only dream of.  
They could create entire planets, build moon-sized ring-worlds and had the ability manipulate space-time. "If only they had mastered the coffee bean," Thought Catherine.  
She took a small sip, savoring the strong taste.  
Despite originally being a tea drinker Catherine had acquired a taste for coffee, or that's what she kept telling herself.

Her research work on Reach, including the SPARTAN II program had required long hours of work and constant confrontations with the military, especially those that wanted to shut her work down, Ackerson being the primary pain in the ass. So coffee became the main source of fuel in her work.  
She took another sip of the dark liquid, closing her eyes.  
"Doctor," started Mendez "I thought that you had one of those portable AI's with you?"  
Catherine looked over at her laptop, where a small pea-sized object was sitting.  
"You mean Jerrod? Yes, but unfortunately his matrix is extremely fragile and his power source is limited. I was hoping to save him for a rainy day." Sighed Catherine

Mendez looked around the room, as if looking at their current options, "Begging your pardon ma'am but this seems like a pretty wet day to me."

After a brief pause Catherine agreed, saving Jerrod wouldn't matter if they had no way to get off the Dyson sphere.

She reached over and activated the small pod.

"Good afternoon doctor," said a familiar English accent "How may I be of assistance?"


	4. Chapter 4

Part 10

**Part 10**

March 27th 2553 (Location unknown)

John grabbed the last alien corpse by the leg and dragged it over to the corner of the chamber, where the rest of them were piled like firewood.

The armour again seemed to soften slightly with his grip before hardening. Even when these aliens were dead their armour was still active, as though trying to protect its dead wearer from further harm.

Despite the carnage within the chamber, the Forerunner was completely unharmed, a testament to Cortana's theory that he was not really here in the physical sense. But this did nothing to help John's situation, he was still stranded on an ancient monument to advanced warfare, and although he was not completely certain, John had the distinct feeling that his dark suited opponents would be back and in greater numbers, and that was a problem.

The destruction of the Pelican and his encounter with both the sentinels and the aliens had left him with a severe ammunition and weapon shortage, which meant that his options in dealing with the aliens again would be limited.

"Chief I've been going over your previous engagement, and I think I've found a weakness."

"Go on," prompted John.

"The aliens seem to demonstrate an amazing resilience to energy weapons, such as the ones used by the Forerunners and the sentinels, but they were less protected by your attack," Explained Cortana "That's probably why they were assessing you before they attacked."

"So their armour is specifically designed to repel energy weapons, if so then why were they still in one piece when I used the M19?"

"Their power armour seems to be aimed at protecting them from Forerunner weapons in particular, but they will obviously have some inherent resistance to kinetic-based combat or weaponry," said Cortana looking at the dead aliens "That's why the M19 was more effective than the sentinel attack, and it's probably the same reason why your close encounter with the remaining alien was also more effective, they have a weakness to kinetic attacks." Stated Cortana with a smile

"But that means one thing…"

"I know chief, every encounter with them, unless you have something more powerful than a Battle rifle, will mean hand to hand combat." Interrupted Cortana

John looked around the already familiar chamber, trying to think of the next step that they should take. Whatever he was going to do it would have to incorporate a method of fighting a technologically superior enemy, and a means to reach Earth.

In hindsight, the one positive aspect to fighting the Covenant had been that although they were more advanced than Humanity, they could still be killed with a rifle and a handful of grenades. Failing that John could still tackle them in hand to hand combat, even the Elites were not as skilled or as quick as a Spartan.

But the encounter with the alien's weaponry had left John with some serious doubts. In one attack a single energy weapon had completely depleted his shields and it had severely tested his Mjolnir armour, and his own physical endurance. And that was with the computer terminal taking most of the attack. A direct would surely kill or permanently injure him. It was then that the memory of an old friend surged back into his thoughts.

John cast his mind back to his training on Reach, and to one of his most promising scouts, Fhajad.

Fhajad was naturally adept at tracking any individual regardless of the conditions, and he was an excellent scout. John had hoped to utilise his skills after they were fully trained, but unfortunately he never got the chance. Unlike the majority of the trainees Fhajad's body rejected the augmentation process and shortly after he succumbed to the onset of Parkinson's disease.

It was the image of Fhajad in a wheel chair that disturbed John the most, something he wanted to avoid, but he had to admit, these aliens were far more formidable than the Covenant had ever been.

The memory of Fhajad set off a sequence of memories of his other friends; some had been killed in action and were long gone. But the fate of some Spartans in particular were simply a mystery to him.

Fred, Will, Kelly and Linda had become the closest thing to a family that he had, but it had been months since he last saw them, and John's return to Reach after the Covenant had taken the planet seemed more like years. Even his brief reunion with Dr Halsey was a distant memory.

It seemed to John, now more than ever, that Cortana was probably the only thing keeping him sane, in a time of madness and overwhelming uncertainty.

John glanced over at Cortana who, by now, had returned to trawling the vast library at her disposal. "Cortana can you detect any more ships?"

She briefly glanced at the ceiling of the chamber before coming back with an answer, "No, according to the sensors there's nothing within a radius of thirty four thousand light years, and even then all I'm seeing is a distant Covenant outpost, less than four hundred personnel."

John stared in amazement, "You can see that?"

"I can see a lot of things, but the further out I go the less detail I can see." Replied Cortana

John suddenly realised the opportunities available to them, "What about Earth?"

Cortana's calm face turned to a look of extreme concentration, the lights in the chamber dimmed as she did everything in her power to see Earth in as much detail as possible.

Her skin became a blur.

"I can only see small areas at a time in detail, there are several vessels in orbit both UNSC and Covenant."

"Brute or Elite?" asked John.

"I can't be certain from this range, but judging from the lack of weapons fire I'd say they're Elite controlled vessels. They appear to be carrying out repairs on several orbital facilities including the few remaining MAC stations." Cortana suddenly smiled "It looks like the Elites are trying to make up for things."

"What about the Arbiter?"

"There's no sign of his ship the Shadow of Intent, it's possible that he may have returned to his home world or that he's simply overseeing the rebuilding phase on a different planet."

Cortana continued to search around, looking at different locations within the Sol system. For the first time in over 30 years all looked well with Humanity.

Inside John was smiling, Cortana had rerouted several systems and the display screen was now showing what she could see. John could finally see for himself that the war was truly over, and that Mankind was rebuilding again.

With that in mind John had to create another mission for himself, he needed something to do, something to strive for, something to achieve. And the aliens that he had encountered were the answer.

"Cortana we need to get to Earth, is there anything on this planet that looks like a ship?"

Cortana shifted her gaze from the deep space search to a more thorough sift inside the vast library database.

She was tempted to copy herself again, to speed up the search process but that would only quicken her advance into rampancy. So instead she opted for a slow laborious search. She had to preserve the few years that she had.

Three and a half minutes passed by before she answered.

"There's a large hangar bay another six levels down, but it's on the other side of this continent. We can reach it by a series of teleporters along the way."

"How long will it take for us to reach Earth?" said John with a hint of anxiety, the last thing he needed was some more time in stasis.

"Just over six hours" came her reply.

"Six hours!" coughed John, "Is that all?"

Cortana quickly realised that John was not able to see what she could see, "The ships that are in the hangar are not designed for long periods of spaceflight, instead they utilise the Forerunner portal system to travel around. We simply activate the portal when we have the ship and fly through. It'll take us directly to Earth."

John looked over at the Forerunner and the pile of aliens on the floor nearby, he wanted to speak directly to the Forerunner and to the aliens, but the situation, as per usual, was conspiring against him. There was simply no time for talking.

Mankind had another problem to deal with, one that they were not yet aware of. John's return would no doubt be a thing of celebration, but he would soon deliver the bad news. The only good thing would be that they would have a Forerunner vessel at their disposal.

"We'd better go."

Cortana nodded and disappeared into her chip before John inserted it back into his armour.

A series of waypoints appeared on his HUD.

After collecting what supplies he had left he steadily jogged out of the chamber, heading for the nearest waypoint.

After his small marathon, John's next stop would be Earth.

November 10th 2552 (Forerunner shield world)

It had only taken Jarrod twenty one minutes to locate everything that they needed, but time was short. His matrix and power source only had another seventeen hours of operational life left before they would degrade and eventually fail.

Catherine knew that if the situation was different and she was back in her office on Reach, a simple maintenance session would clear up the problem. Jarrod's matrix was not as refined as Cortana's, and he was not designed with field use in mind. He was a supporting and administrative AI, not a hardened creation intended for long periods of combat.

Despite his shortfalls, Jarrod was still more than capable of carrying out calculations beyond the speed of any human.

Their first stop would be a large chamber eight levels down, where they could finally make a real attempt at opening the Cryo-tubes. After that though, things became far more difficult.

The Forerunners had designed the Dyson-sphere with their final escape in mind. They would not simply turn up on foot; they would instead arrive through a series of much larger portals designed to take any vessel up to the size of a capital ship. After that they would travel around using smaller craft from the hangar that Jarrod had found.

The distance between the chamber and the hanger was over 1100 miles, and despite the presence of several teleporters and automated tram networks in between that would halve the journey, they would still need to cover 584 miles on foot.

For the Spartans this was probably nothing, they could no doubt cover it in a matter of weeks, but Catherine was no soldier.

After collecting all that they could carry, including the Cryo-tubes Catherine, Chief Mendez and the rest of the Spartans headed for the chamber eight levels below them.

The journey would be long, but as far as Catherine was concerned time was short.

To be continued…

**Part**** 11**

The New Age of Truth, following the Great Schism. (In orbit of Suban)

The Arbiter cast his eye over the hard crust of the moon, its small size and cracked surface gave the impression that at any moment, the Shadow of Intent would be engulfed in a storm of debris. But despite its appearance, Suban was a sturdy rock that had withstood several millennia of warfare.

Thousands of years ago Suban had been one of the main focal points for combat. Unlike its more distant partner Quikost, Suban's close elliptical orbit around Sanghelios made it a point of strategic interest, and a scene of some of the fiercest fighting in Sangheili history had ensued as a result.

This of course, as all Sangheili knew, came to be known as The First Age of Conflict, a bitter and destructive war between the Sangheili and the devout San 'Shyuum, who later became the most influential species on the now disbanded council.

A lone Jiralhanae cruiser had maintained a commanding position in the shadow of Suban throughout the Great Schism, but its fortune was now at an end as the shadow of Intent and twelve other ships of various classes, were closing on the heavily damaged vessel.

The cruiser had remained undetected for several hundred cycles, but a single impatient call for assistance from the Jiralhanae commander, had alerted several nearby Sangheili warships of its presence, which then proceeded to bombard the cruiser as it sat silently in one of the many craters that covered the surface of Suban.

Only an order from Rtas Vadum to cease fire had prolonged the inevitable.

Although the Shadow of Intent was smaller than most of the other vessels in pursuit, Rtas wanted the kill for himself as did the Arbiter. For years they had fiercely defended the path of the Great Journey, enforcing the will of the Prophets whenever it was needed.

But now things were different, now the lies were gone and poisonous stench of the Prophets had been driven away.

"Helm get us closer, I want to see the defeat in their eyes." Bellowed Rtas Vadum

The Arbiter looked silently on as his friend and ally pushed the will of his ship and crew in an effort to seek revenge. "No, not revenge," he thought "Justice."

Revenge would solve nothing here, the Arbiter knew that. Although as soon as the conflict had been won on Earth he was tempted to lay in a course for the Jiralhanae home world of Doisac and glass the planet beyond recognition, but his first concern was his people.

Each Arbiter that was chosen rarely survived to see the end of any war. They were instead chosen for exactly the same reason as he was, for suicide missions, a chance to reclaim honour.

He thought it odd that the Prophets could even use such a word as a reason for his current position, but then of course the Prophets had lied. They had lied since the start of the war against the Humans; they had lied about the Forerunner technology and its origin. It seemed that all the Prophets had been good at was lying.

As a result the Covenant had been thrown into turmoil, millions had been killed. Not to mention the cost of fighting the humans.

"Prepare to fire!" ordered Rtas

The Arbiter thought of his old enemy.

They were an odd species but a courageous one, even in defeat they continued to fight. Even when all appeared lost they stood their ground against an enemy that was far greater, both in numbers and firepower.

They were a worthy adversary and were even more valuable as allies, if any species deserved a place in the Covenant and a seat on the council it was they.

But there was one comrade in particular that was in his thoughts, one soldier who had consistently caused the Covenant the most trouble throughout the conflict, the Spartan that the humans called "Master Chief".

In the early days of the war Mankind had little to offer in terms of interest, but the stories of "Demons" soon became a topic of conversation among many Sangheili.

At first it was rumored that the Demons were living machines much like the lumbering hulk of a Mgalekgolo. Humanities' own heavy armour.

And for years these stories seemed unfounded, escalating into myth and legend. But then one day a blurred wash of reconnaissance footage was circulated throughout the higher caste members of the Sangheili council. In the short burst of imagery was the now unmistakable shape of a Spartan warrior.

Unlike the many previous encounters with Humans, these soldiers were more resilient in combat and far more effective.

In every documented case given to the council came the same result of every battle involving these Demons, the Covenant lost.

More and more footage surfaced, showing them sweeping aside hordes of Unggoy and kig-yar. And more alarmingly even Sangheili warriors were being defeated.

The council deemed these Demons a level of heresy above that of a regular Human that they were not to be captured and used for intelligence, examination or sport.

They were to be killed on sight, preferably vaporised.

In all of his time the Arbiter had only seen one Demon, the Master Chief, but previous intelligence reports had suggested that there was more than just one Spartan.

The Arbiter was disturbed from his thoughts as Rtas gave the order to fire, but he only wanted the engines and weapons to be targeted. No doubt so he could board the vessel and seek out his enemy in person.

In the time that he had spent with Rtas, the Arbiter had seen a dramatic change in his behavior.

When the Covenant had invaded Earth and during other encounters with Humans, Rtas had been an ambitious and ruthless warrior.

Many Humans had died at his skillful hands. But the alliance had changed that much to his surprise. He went from a brash and eager commander to a more assured and patient leader.

Since the Great Schism though, many of his old habits had returned, something which was now evident through his half-jawed grin.

The shadow of Intent gently shuddered as a precise volley of plasma was launched at the escaping cruiser, its surface rippled with the impact as the failing shields gave way.

The engines and weapons were hit with ease and the ship suddenly slewed to one side as the previous momentum of its now dead engine room carried it forward.

The ship started to roll.

"Status of the Jiralhanae vessel." Ordered Rtas

"Their weapons and engines are destroyed, but they have minimal life support and the majority of their gravity plating is intact." Informed Kelic Til, the Operations officer.

Like many of the crew Kelic was young, but his actions in several previous battles had seen him promoted in rank more than once in just a short space of time.

He was a reliable and steadfast warrior who had been more than happy to help end the reign of the Jiralhanae.

"Good," Gleamed Rtas "I'm not one for floating around in combat, but they won't need their life support for much longer."

A quiet murmur of approval sounded around Rtas.

Rtas turned to face the Arbiter, "I would be honoured if you would join me in boarding the cruiser Arbiter."

The Arbiter looked at the twisted form of the cruiser on the display screen, several large chunks of metal and even some of the superstructure was floating away from the hull, she was heavily damaged.

Even though not a single escape pod was launched, evidence that they were still eager to fight.

"No Rtas, the honour is mine." Smiled the Arbiter as he activated his energy sword

The light of the blade filled the bridge with a deceptively soothing wash of Cyan.

"Then let us finish this war." Replied Rtas

The Arbiter followed Rtas and several other Sangheili out of the bridge, towards the hangar decks.

The hangar bay of the Shadow of Intent was filled with Soldiers all wearing their full armour. There were even several Sangheili warriors dressed in honour guard uniforms.

The hall of warriors roared and cheered as Rtas and the Arbiter entered, immediately the Arbiter felt a rush of pride and excitement in his chest.

All along the far end of the bay were more than twenty boarding craft. The Arbiter thought at first that this number of craft was overkill, but then the Jiralhanae had given no quarter nor showed any respect when they came to power to do the bidding of the Prophets.

The only sight in the hangar that was different was a small group of loyal Unggoy and a single Huragok that was floating around one of the damaged Spirit drop ships, making repairs.

"To war!" shouted Rtas

The crowd of warriors erupted with a deafening roar causing the Unggoy to move back slightly. But the Huragok carried on oblivious, busying itself in its duties of maintenance and repair.

Rtas and the Arbiter boarded the nearest craft followed by three squads of Sangheili warriors, all brandishing plasma rifles and Carbines.

The remaining soldiers then filled the remaining boarding craft before they floated from the deck and then headed out through the energy barrier, towards the crippled Jiralhanae cruiser.

The boarding craft would smash into the enemy vessel and they would fill it honourable Sangheili warriors.

Then they would show the Jiralhanae the true path of the Great Journey.

To be continued…

* * *

**Part 12 **

After a brief journey from the Shadow of Intent, the first wave of boarding craft slammed into the Jiralhanae vessel. The impact should have been enough to throw every assaulting Sangheili onto the floor, but the on-board inertia field had reduced the impact to nothing more than a faint shudder.  
The Arbiter stared at illuminated forward section of the boarding craft; the energy field was already cutting through the hull of the ship, providing them with an access point and an air-tight seal.

In previous wars with the races in the Covenant, boarding craft had rarely been used, even against the San 'Shyuum. Ship to ship combat had been the preferred method of fighting. But the war with the Humans had seen an increase in the use of boarding actions, in an effort to gain intelligence. Even Humans had secrets that the Covenant wanted to know, mentions of Forerunner technology and the origin of the various demons that were encountered in the last few decades were among the main areas of interest to the council.  
But here they were boarding another covenant ship; they were here to remind the Jiralhanae what honour and loyalty were and what they meant. Since the Jiralhanae had joined the Covenant, they had employed their ancient pack like attitude to those around them. Their grasp of technology was limited and they showed general discomfort towards any form of authority, including the council.  
This had not gone unnoticed though; the council deemed that any Jiralhanae ship would not be allowed the use of her plasma batteries or certain ship functions that required the use of advanced Covenant technology. And for a time it remained that way.

Then the war with the Humans started, and the Covenant mustered all of its members, including the Jiralhanae against this new threat, this new abomination. Humans were declared a heresy to all that represented the great journey, and for that they were to be wiped from the face of the universe.  
This dramatic shift in the council's attitude evoked a change of procedure for new arrivals into the Covenant. Instead of waiting decades or even centuries till their loyalty was assured, the Jiralhanae were presented with a fleet of fully functional cruisers and capital ships, and the means to maintain them. They were given too much too soon.  
The ambitions of the Prophets matched that of the Jiralhanae, and once that was recognised by each side, then the integrity of the Covenant was doomed. But the Sangheili were different, for them loyalty and honour were of paramount importance, they were the foundations of their society.

"Prepare for deployment!" growled Rtas

All around the Arbiter were hordes of eager and honourable warriors; some were veterans of a thousand battles whilst others had only experienced a taste of things to come. But in this case the only thing that mattered was the destruction of their enemy.  
The front of the boarding craft grew dark and silent. They were secure.  
The energy barrier sprang into life as the forward section opened like the petals of a flower. Through the shimmering field, the Arbiter could make out the familiar sight of the dorsal command corridor, a long shaft that stretched almost the entire length of the cruiser. This would give them greater access to the other areas of the dying ship.  
"This is it warriors, take the life from our enemy and give them no quarter, make them regret the mistakes that they have made in life so they can think hard in death." Bellowed Rtas, before charging through the energy barrier and into the corridor of the cruiser  
The Arbiter and the remaining Sangheili warriors quickly followed, all of them roaring in anticipation of the coming battle.

Rtas and the Arbiter turned right from the boarding craft and headed down the corridor towards one of the many junctions that littered the ship. Several of the other warriors turned left towards the cruisers engine section, whilst the remaining Sangheili followed the Arbiter and their determined Ship Master.  
The junction was devoid of any Jiralhanae and their Kig-yar sidekicks, so they moved on to the next corridor.  
The walls of the corridor that had once been covered in a gleaming blue-purple sheen were now adorned in a series of small dents, and a thin layer of dirt and a thick black greasy liquid. Several of the lighting orbs within the walls were not functional as was a computer interface along the wall of the second corridor.  
"Obviously the Jiralhanae care nothing for maintenance, or the daily labours of crewing a Covenant cruiser," muttered Rtas "They live like the primitives we know them to be."  
"And they will die like them." Voiced the Arbiter

Around the next corner was their first sight of the enemy, four Kig-yar and Two Jiralhanae soldiers stood half way towards the main assembly and council chamber on the ship.  
The Kig-yar were equipped with an assortment of Beam rifles and plasma pistols, whilst the two Jiralhanae soldiers were holding a typical choice of Spike rifles. They looked fatigued and disorderly, and were slow to react to the sight of the twenty five Sangheili warriors that were now rushing towards them.  
The four Kig-yar were quickly cut down by a rapid volley of Carbine fire, whilst the two Jiralhanae succumbed to several shots from the Arbiters plasma rifle and then a finishing lunge with a crackling energy sword.  
Rtas swept passed the small pile of dead soldiers and onwards to a small corridor that moved away from the main access way. As he rounded the corner he was greeted by Jiralhanae captain in gold armour. His rank was unimportant as Rtas fired his plasma rifle at the bulky figure. The alien officer attempted to recover from this unexpected encounter but Rtas followed up with several swift strikes with the butt of his plasma rifle. The Jiralhanae captain tried in vain to parry the attack, but Rtas was too fast for his opponent and knocked him to the ground before rendering his face unrecognisable with another shot of superheated plasma.  
The Arbiter and the rest of the boarding party quickly followed, moving into the next corridor.  
Ahead of them this time was a sizable squad of Kig-yar, Unggoy and Jiralhanae, all assembled around a makeshift barricade.  
A Captain-Major was leading this pack and they seemed to be more organised than the previous group. The Kig-yar were all equipped with shield gauntlets, and on seeing the approaching threat, they were immediately activated.  
The Unggoy laid down an uncoordinated volley of fire from their plasma pistols, causing Rtas and the Arbiter to dive for cover. Several of their following Sangheili warriors immediately returned fire, downing three of the squat aliens with their carbines.  
The residing Jiralhanae opened fire with spikers and maulers, but their aim was off and their pattern of fire was ineffective.

"Grenades!" ordered the Arbiter

Six Sangheili warriors in blue armour immediately stepped forward and threw a handful of grenades at the barricade. Most of them landed in or around the makeshift position but one grenade stuck to the Methane tank of an exposed Unggoy, who promptly panicked and ran towards the Jiralhanae captain. Another grenade stuck to the arm of an overconfident Kig-yar in the middle of the group, both exploded in a cloud of blue fire, sending body parts in all directions.  
The only survivor was a lone Jiralhanae stalker, but he was injured and dazed by the huge explosion that had just occurred, the Arbiter quickly put him out of his misery with a lightning fast slash with his energy sword, the stalkers chest armour crumpled and his rib-cage exploded in a shower of gore.

With the current threat neutralised, the Arbiter and Rtas carried on with their squad towards the bridge which was now only three corridors away. Any further resistance that they would encounter would no doubt be far more determined, and with the boarding action well under way, far more prepared.  
The arbiters concerns of stiffer resistance the closer they came to the bridge, was more than justified. The next corridor was filled with three separate squads, all laid out in a more thought out and effective manner. The first squad was a mass of thirty or so Unggoy along with several Kig-yar and a single Jiralhanae stalker.  
The second squad was a mix of twenty shield bearing Kig-yar and a dozen Jiralhanae minors and several stalkers lead by a lone captain.  
The third squad although smaller than the first two presented its own problems, four stalkers and ten bodyguards surrounding a blue suited Ultra ranked Captain were a formidable force, but a flanking pair of loyalist Mgelekgolo brandishing fuel rod cannons were the main cause of concern. Their heavy armour and imposing size would be problematic as the boarding action had been swift and probably carried out with too much eagerness and impatience. As a result they had no heavy weapons to use on the Mgelekgolo at the end of the corridor.

"Warriors, target the Unggoy," Instructed Rtas "Rapid fire!"

Two squads of blue suited Sangheili moved forward into a better position and fired at the squabbling horde of aliens.

"Specialists, target the second squad. Keep their foul heads down and their weapons silent!" instructed Rtas

A further squad of Sangheili in dark armour moved to the right of the first and opened fire on the wall of Kig-yar shields and Jiralhanae. Some of them found their mark before the loyalist soldiers ducked behind the shields for cover.

"Carbines fire on the third squad!"

The remaining Sangheili fired at the more distant third group of Jiralhanae, there was little chance of removing the Ultra Captain's entire bodyguard at this distance with the amount of barricades and bulkheads in the way, but they could at least keep them in position, giving the Arbiter and Rtas time to formulate a plan of action.

The first squad was relatively easy to deal with, those Unggoy that were stupid enough to charge were quickly killed while the ones that retreated were mown down by their Jiralhanae masters. The lone stalker in the first squad was the first to be targeted followed by his slow short soldiers.  
Rtas and the Arbiter moved forward to the now vacant barricade, narrowly avoiding a determined volley of plasma from a pair of Kig-yar in the next squad. The arbiter responded with his own rifle and one of the ugly creatures fell to the floor, clutching the area where its left leg used to be.  
The rest of the Sangheili moved forward, several were caught out and fell to the floor with gaping holes in their armour, and another two were hit by spiker fire.  
The second position was too well defended and they had to reserve their grenades for the Mgelekgolo, the only way to shift them would be a head on charge to smash the shield wall apart and then engage the Jiralhanae in hand to hand combat.

"Prepare to charge this vermin!" The Arbiter informed

Rtas glanced back at the Arbiter with look that most of the other squad was now displaying, excitement.

The Arbiter readied himself for the engagement before giving the order to charge.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 13**

Inside the Loyalist cruiser of _Malicious Intent._

Grek a prominent and distinguished Ultra ranked Captain, was one of many Jiralhanae that had achieved their position through the deposition of others. Sometimes these "Others" were similarly ranked soldiers with an equal share of determination and ambition, but most of the time it was an unwitting warrior of senior rank with little knowledge of their impending retirement from command.

Some other races in the Covenant had deemed their way of promotion something more akin to treachery or deception: the Sangheili in particular. But Grek knew his own position was far from an assured means of commanding those around him. Since the Great Schism no less than nine of his own bodyguard had personally challenged him. All of them were now floating somewhere deep inside covenant space; minus their own heads. It was not so much command. It was more like control.

Grek peered from the safety of his armoured bulk at the separatists at the far end of the corridor, who were now charging into the wall of shields on the second position. At the forefront of their advance was the unmistakable silhouette of the Arbiter. The very sight of the Sangheili warrior caused Grek's matted fur on the back of his neck to stand on end. He felt like charging the insubordinate scum from where he stood, but another few volleys of carbine fire changed his now agitated mind.

Grek turned in foolish anger towards the nearest Mgelekgolo and ordered the armoured monster to target the second position. "Don't stop firing until everything there is on fire!"

Several of his own bodyguard shot him a look of distaste before resuming their own chorus of fire on the second position. The second Mgelekgolo also joined in on the carnage, targeting the broad band of shields and charging Sangheili.

The first giant bolt of green iridescent fire was slightly wide of its mark. Several of the Kig-yar turned around in shock and panic, realising that they had quickly become expendable. The Jiralhanae Captain of the group turned sharply towards Grek, a look of disbelief and anger on his face. He immediately began cursing through the thunderous fire around, oblivious of the situation or simply unconcerned.

The second round from the fuel rod cannon hit the barricade dead square in the centre of the line of squabbling Kig-yar, incinerating half of them and throwing the rest across the corridor.

Grek suddenly realised that he had made a serious tactical error by succumbing to his own impatience.

With the shield wall in disarray the Arbiter, Rtas and the rest of the boarding party swept into the despondent line of Jiralhanae. Several of the lower ranked minors were killed with their backs turned, looking at their own Captain Ultra in betrayed disbelief. The rest attempted to fight back before they were overwhelmed. Rtas killed two minors and a wounded stalker whilst the Arbiter killed a further three minors and squared up against the captain.

The Jiralhanae captain was filled with rage; his recent betrayal by the commanding Ultra in addition to the boarding action had only infuriated him further. The Arbiter fired his plasma rifle at the captain, several of the shots penetrated the armour and the captain reeled and snorted in both pain and anger.

The Arbiter stepped back; sensing what was coming.

The captain swung his fist at the Arbiter but he was too slow; the Arbiter simply ducked beneath the captain's sluggish attack. The captain kicked out at his Sangheili opponent, but he could only manage a glancing blow on the Arbiters thigh before he opened up once again with his plasma rifle. The captain stepped back again raising his arms for protection before roaring loudly at the Arbiter.

Then he charged.

The Arbiter sidestepped the attack and waited till the captain had past before re-activating his energy sword, and striking the Jiralhanae in the back with a single thrust. The large lifeless body slumped to the floor with a heavy thud.

The Arbiter glanced around to see how the rest of the battle was going. All of the loyalist soldiers were dead, and lying about the floor in a variety of odd poses. Three of his fellow warriors had been slain by the enemy, but the Arbiter was more concerned by the glowing fuel rod cannons of the Mgelekgolo at the end of the corridor. One of them fired directly at the Arbiter, but he moved swiftly out of the way of the flaring bolt. The second one also fired, but this time at the mass of Sangheili among the barricades. Two of them were instantly vaporized, while another four were thrown back by the explosion.

The Arbiter along with the remainder of the boarding party dived behind the protective screen of weapon racks and plasma chargers, which fortunately for the Arbiter were designed to withstand a wide range of climates and atmospheres, along with resilience to direct weapons fire.

Attacking the third position would be a mistake; they would all be cut down before they even reached the enemy. The carbine equipped Sangheili had achieved a total of four kills, all of them the Ultra's bodyguard. But even they were now pinned down by the thunderous cannon fire.

They were rapidly loosing the momentum of the attack and the upper hand, and that was something that the Arbiter had to change quickly.

Then the firing stopped.

The Arbiter peered over the barricade to see the Ultra shouting at the two Mgelekgolo, he had obviously not ordered them to do so. Instead they seemed to have taken matters into their own hands, or in this case their huge metal shields.

One of the stalkers decided to fire a single shot from his spiker at the Mgelekgolo nearest to him. The creature shrieked, but not from pain and raised itself up, as if accepting or issuing a challenge. The stalker took several steps back before charging towards the Mgelekgolo he had fired at. The large blue creature simply swatted the stalker aside like an annoying insect before firing on the rest of the group.

The Arbiter glanced at Rtas and pulled a pleasing grin with his multi-jawed mouth. Rtas replied the silent conversation with a simple nod.

"Warriors rise up and together we'll sweep this foulness aside!" roared the Arbiter "Charge!"

The Arbiter and the rest of the Sangheili charged towards the final position in the corridor. The two Mgelekgolo were now wading into the group of Jiralhanae, swinging their huge shields as they did so. After a short sprint they reached the remainder of the enemy position and fought them hand to hand. The opposing Ultra, seeing the Arbiter within reach, charged forward, arms outstretched as if he was going to crush the Sangheili in his armour. But he never reached him. Instead he was killed with a single shot from a fuel rod cannon.

The Arbiter span round to see what the Mgelekgolo had fired at, but all he could see was the smouldering remains of the Ultra's armour.

After the ship was taken the Arbiter approached the two Mgelekgolo. On seeing him approach they bowed as low as they could, and uttered three simple words. "We are sorry."

"Apology accepted friends," replied the Arbiter "Now is the time for peace, not war."

The two walking tanks appeared to nod in unison and then took their rightful place at the main entrance to the bridge, which was littered with bodies.

"Today we have finally ended this conflict Rtas, but much is still to be done."

"Agreed Arbiter." Said Rtas

"Helm, take this ship home where it will be returned to its former glory as a covenant cruiser." Ordered the Arbiter

Suddenly the collision alarm sounded, filling the bridge with a high pitched whine.

"Status!" demanded Rtas

"A vessel of unknown origin has just emerged from slip-space. Closing fast." Informed Kelic

"On screen." Said the Arbiter

The main view screen displayed a craft smaller than the cruiser itself, but the shape was unmistakably familiar. It was a Forerunner vessel.

"Hail them." Ordered Rtas

"No need sir; they are hailing us." Answered Kelic

* * *

**Part 14**

_March 28__th__ 2552, Forerunner defensive world_

John casually jogged the last mile inside the extensive structure. His previous encounters with Forerunner technology had been extremely useful as most of the route had utilised teleporters and light bridges that spanned huge chasms that descended into an abyss of infinity.  
Cortana had spent most of the journey remotely monitoring the immediate space surrounding the planet, and trawling yet more of the vast library of data that was stored here. Humanity could learn a lot from the secrets that were kept here.

"There it is chief." Announced Cortana

John looked ahead and saw another door, similar to the one that secured the external part of the structure, but this one was even bigger than that one. This doorway was big enough for a Covenant cruiser.

"Can you open it?" John enquired

"Just a second…where is it? Ah there it is…open sesame!" barked Cortana

As John neared the doorway the giant frame shuddered and the doors began to part, revealing the darkened interior. John slowed to a walk and cautiously paused at the entrance to the massive hangar bay.

"It's Okay chief, its safe."

John nodded but still proceeded with caution. There was every chance that a significant threat might lay just beyond the entrance. One that Cortana had not detected.  
Inside was the largest hangar that John had ever laid eyes on. In the nearest section over half a kilometre away were several small vessels of Forerunner design, but another object, barely in sight, caught John's attention.

"It's a Forerunner battleship." Announced Cortana

John tilted his head in amazement, "How do you know?"

"I've just gained access to the hangar inventory. There is quite a collection here chief, but only one warship still remains, the rest are supply and support craft along with a couple of shuttles."

John stared again at the distant craft, "You said still remains. Does that mean you know what was here previously?

"The inventory lists a number of ships that were taken only a few days before we arrived, although I'm not sure by who, or how they arrived here." Cortana continued looking in the database of ship movements. Some of the records dated back to before the dawn of mankind. "They took three warships, a multi-role vessel of some description and a handful of smaller support craft and shuttles."

"Any idea on where they went?"

"No, none, but it's possible that the movement of the Forerunner vessels was what alerted the other species to the planet's location, and not the re-initialisation of the planetary systems." Cortana surmised

"Can we take the battleship?" asked John

"I'm afraid it's not that straight forward chief. The ship uses several different sub-systems to pilot, maintain and fire the weapons. It was obviously designed to be used by more than one monitor. The system that controls the vessel is extensive, and even though I could probably operate it, I would need to make several copies of myself and that would reduce my life-span to just a few months or even weeks."

John was disappointed to hear that, but the last thing he wanted was to reduce Cortana's existence to just a few weeks. He would need her help for more than that, a lot more if those aliens returned again. "Then we'll go for one of the shuttles instead. I presume they have just one system to operate?"

"Yes." Answered Cortana

John ran over to the nearest shuttle-like vessel. In a way it was similar to sections of the structures on halo. Two angled sections looked like wings, but john doubted that the Forerunners used anything as basic as aerodynamics to keep a ship in the air. A third angled section jutted into the air like the tail plane section of a short- sword close support aircraft and then the whole craft angled to a blunt point at the nose. Despite being a shuttle, it was more than capable of carrying a whole Pelican in its cargo hold.

As John approached the shuttle a seamless doorway opened as if operated instinctively. John stepped inside, and the doorway closed behind him.

Inside were a series of almost irregularly placed chairs, all facing the forward section of the ship. A central chair stood out among the others, surrounded by more cabling and power conduits. Obviously a living monitor could pilot this ship for millennia.

John placed his armoured hand o the back of the chair, "I take it a monitor can pilot this thing whilst in stasis?"

"Not just that chief, the whole ship can be placed in a form of stasis. There's even a directed energy system that can form slip-space bubbles around other objects. I presume for cargo or ejected life pods."

John sat in one of the more forward positioned chairs, and was immediately secured without the use of a harness into the seat. Despite his body being locked into the chair he could still move his arms and head without any trouble. "I presume this is a safety feature Cortana?"

"Sorry chief, I'll give you a little more warning next time." Chuckled Cortana

Seeing that John was safely secured Cortana jumped from the comfort of his armour and into the ships systems – appearing as a hologram again on the central console.

"Take us out Cortana." Ordered John

Cortana replied with the activation of the advanced gravity drive that the ship used. Unlike Covenant and Human vessels the shuttle could bend space and time with ease, creating slip-space openings of virtually any size and shape.

"Opening slip-space." Cortana informed

Just beyond the shuttle a small pin prick of light appeared before growing in size. Its presence twisted and warped the nearby space into a thin rushing whirlpool of air. Cortana moved the ship forward just as the warped area before them reached the required size.

The nose of the ship seemed to stretch and a dull shudder resounded throughout the deck before settling into silence. There was a bust of light, then dark and then the twisted marble of slip-space. They were through.

John loosened his helmet before removing it. "How long before we reach Earth?" said John scratching his matted hair.

"I'm not taking us to Earth chief; I'm heading for the Elite home world."

"Why?" frowned John

"If this new threat is going to return, then we need to make sure that what remains of the Covenant is going to help us. It'll also give us a chance to warn them before returning to Earth."

"The more advanced technology we have the better I presume."

"Exactly" replied Cortana

"How long till we reach them?" asked John

"We're just approaching the system now chief."

John's chin almost hit the floor; they had only been in slip-space for about six or seven minutes. His faced gradually when from a look of shock and disbelief to one of respect for the power and technology at their disposal, but despite this new found speed, there was little doubt in John's mind that the enemy of the Forerunner also had this level of technology. His encounter with them had proved that they were more than just another bull's eye painted figure in his sights. They were advanced, highly advanced and extremely dangerous, more so than the Covenant had been during the war.

"Dropping out of slip-space." Announced Cortana

On the single view screen in front the display of the twisted space around them changed to a glittering star field with countless diamonds of pure white light.

In the image were two ships of Covenant design. One was a standard attack cruiser which was heavily damaged, and was impaled with several boarding craft, whilst the other was an assault carrier. Beyond them were another dozen or so ships all in working order.

"The undamaged ship is the Shadow of Intent-the Arbiters flagship chief."

"Good, hail them."


	6. Chapter 6

**Part 15 **

_Ventral Hangar Bay, onboard the Covenant Cruiser Malicious Intent_

The Arbiter rushed along the ventral corridor of the ship along with Rtas and a handful of well armed Sangheili.  
The message from the Forerunner vessel had indicated the return of the Spartan. But there was no way of knowing the truth until the vessel arrived in the hangar bay, and unloaded its mysterious cargo.  
Secretly he hoped that the message was true. The Spartan had become a trusted ally, and a good friend.  
The Master Chief had saved his hide many times, but he had taken this with humility and respect, repaying the debt in their fight with the Prophets lies.  
Whilst the war was being fought, and the fate of the galaxy was in balance, the Spartan had given Humanity a voice with which to answer the deafening wave of terror that was the Flood.  
He had seen countless honorable Sangheili swept aside by the parasite, engulfed to become host to the monster. But the Master Chief, the Demon, and bane of the Covenant had razed infected hives to the ground, swept a path of destruction through the parasite, and to its single minded intelligence that was the Gravemind.  
The Master Chief was, if anything, deserved of the Covenant name that he was given. He was a juggernaut of fighting skill, cunning and brute strength. He was indeed a Demon.

The Arbiter arrived at the doorway to the ventral hangar bay, and opened the main door.  
Before him was a disorganised and embarrassing mess as the Jiralhanae had done little to maintain their ship, or the craft that were carried within its hold. Inside the large bay were six Spirit drop ships.  
These graceful and respected craft had been all but replaced at the Jiralhanae's insistence, and the greed driven council, sensing an opportunity had happily obliged. Of the six craft four of them were damaged beyond repair, whereas the remaining two could be brought back to operational status with some simple maintenance. The Arbiter knew that any form of maintenance would be long and difficult as the previous Captain had disposed of his Huragok through the airlock in a fit of anger.  
Further along the hangar wall were four Phantoms. One was outfitted in a heavy anti-armour role, whilst another was modified for ground support. The remaining two were in their original troop transport role.  
Ever since the Jiralhanae had gained favor with the Prophets, these unconventional and distasteful craft had become the main mode of transport for Covenant ground troops.  
The Arbiter smirked under his helmet, knowing that the Spirit drop ship would soon be returned to its rightful role.

The Arbiter slowly walked in – plasma rifle at the ready. He was hopeful, but still cautious of the alien ship, which was now waiting patiently outside the energy barrier. He doubted that the barrier, locked or not would be capable of stopping a Forerunner ship, but he noted the pilot's cooperation.  
The Arbiter had insisted on a strict adherence to Covenant boarding protocol, and so far it was being followed.  
Several of his warriors took up positions along the upper gantry level, including the overlooking plasma turrets that littered the walkway. Each one was trained on the Forerunner vessel. If there was any sign of deception then they would unleash a stream of intense plasma fire.  
The Arbiter walked over to the main landing area, and slowly lowered his plasma rifle before ordering the deactivation of the red illuminated security field on the hangar entrance.  
Rtas moved to the side of the Arbiter, next to a pile of logistical containers where he maintained his vigilant aim on the alien vessel.  
Very slowly and with careful precision, the vessel inched its way into the hangar.

It was an unusual vessel but also familiar and in keeping with the single theme of engineering that the Forerunners used. It was a single flowing design that gave the impression of a thin triangular frame with three larger bulkhead or buttress like wings or stabilizers. All of these widened to a large hold at the rear, whilst the front narrowed to a dull point. Its metal skin was a calm grey with strokes of blue lighting along the hull and the three protruding struts.  
There was little noise from the vessel as it pushed its way through the now blue energy barrier.  
The Arbiter moved slowly to side of the forerunner ship, looking for any sign of a doorway or hatch, but the hull of the craft was smooth and seamless.  
Rtas indicated to the vessel to stop with a raised hand. The craft immediately responded by stopping dead and lowering to meet the hangar floor.  
A shimmer of light rippled over a small section of the side and a doorway appeared. Both Rtas and the Arbiter raised their plasma rifles again, in anticipation of the disembarkation.  
The door silently slid out of view inside the craft, revealing the interior. The Arbiter blinked several times to ensure he was not hallucinating, but the there was definitely a familiar figure at the doorway. He motioned the science officer forward to scan the individual in front of him.

"Scans confirm Arbiter, it is him." sounded the science officer

Upon hearing the news the Arbiter lowered his rifle, followed by Rtas and the others.

"Welcome back Spartan, it is good to see you again." He said with a fanged smile.

John stepped forward and grasped the Arbiters hand in a firm but friendly handshake. "It's good to be back," Said John, as he glanced around the cluttered hangar bay, "I see you've been busy."

"Please accept my apologies Spartan, but the…Brutes as you call them are unworthy of such prized possessions."

John returned his gaze to the Arbiter, "The spoils of war."

"Indeed," the Arbiter motioned for Rtas to come forward, "I believe you already know Rtas."  
Rtas extended a clawed hand to John, who took it without hesitation before giving it a firm shake. Rtas gave a crooked smile before John nodded in response.

"I'd hate to interrupt this delightful reunion of the old and bold, but we have a lot to do chief." Came a familiar female voice

"I believe you know Cortana," Uttered John as she appeared on a doorway holo-plinth nearby - bathing the nearby area in blue light.

"Ah the artificial intelligence, I trust you are well?"

"I will be when we've dealt with our problem." Replied Cortana

The Arbiter cocked his head, part in curiosity and part in apprehension, "What problem?"

"Show them." Interrupted John

Cortana activated an overhead display screen and opened her log entries from the last few days. Slowly and steadily she went through their arrival on the Forerunner world and the encounter with the Forerunners enemy. She gave detailed accounts of each event and displayed mouth-watering footage of the interior of the structure, including the living Forerunner in the sub-level chamber.  
Each of the Elites stared in amazement at Cortana's account of the past few days. Even the warriors on the overhead gantry had come down for a closer look.

The Arbiter almost cringed at the sight of John fighting these new and deadly aliens, "I am pleased that you were not killed by these aliens Spartan."  
"We were lucky to survive at all; they have a level of technology that by far surpasses anything that Humanity or the Covenant possesses." Voiced Cortana  
"Believe me…friend," muttered the Arbiter, looking at John "It is not good fortune that guides you Spartan, but destiny."

All of the other Elites nodded and snarled in approval. They had seen first hand what John was capable of, including the encounter with the aliens. In their eyes he had gone from a hated enemy to a respected and revered comrade.

"What should we do?" asked Rtas

Cortana looked up at the now gathering crowd of Elites. "We should fortify what we have and warn everyone we know. Then we need to get to Earth and formulate a plan of action."  
The Arbiter nodded, "Agreed, Rtas ready the fleet and tell our home defence to prepare for a possible attack. Then we will return to my flagship and depart for Earth at our best possible speed."

Rtas bounded out of the hangar and headed for the bridge.

"I had hoped Spartan, that when you returned you would be the first Human to set foot on my world, that you would be a symbol of hope and victory to my people." Said the Arbiter "But now it seems that that will have to wait."

Cortana stared inquisitively at the Arbiter "You said 'when' he returned not 'if'. What if the chief had been killed?"

The Arbiter smiled, showing his long fangs "Ah my blue friend, were it so easy."

* * *

**Part 16 **

March 28th 2552, Onboard the Covenant Flagship: The Shadow of Intent

John paced back and forth in his newfound crew quarters, but it was clearly not designed for a human. In fact it was more like a maintenance room of some kind.  
At the Arbiters insistence, John had tried to get some rest, but the current situation was constantly rushing through his mind, and he found himself going over his new opponents again and again.  
The Forerunners enemy was more deadly than the Flood, and far more advanced than the Covenant. He began to doubt that even the alliance with the Elites would be enough to stop them.  
In addition to the superior technology that was against them and the resilience of the enemy, John needed one more thing: intelligence. He had no idea as to how many of these almost unstoppable aliens were left, or where they came from. Even the ships were a complete mystery to him. He almost shuddered at the thought that the one ship that he and Cortana had seen may just have been the equivalent of a frigate.  
He needed answers, and fast.  
John eventually admitted defeat and sat on the oddly shaped bed.  
It was curved like a kidney, and covered in a strange iridescent material, which as far as John could tell, was some form of blanket. The room was also unusual, with a sloping ceiling and two curved walls that tapered round the room and into an angled slant from floor to ceiling.  
Along the walls were six different coloured orbs. The furthest orb on the left was a dragon-yolk yellow, whilst the next two were a cold blue crystal. The remaining lights were trio of various shades of red.  
Directly below the orbs were a small opaque screen and a series of angled sockets set parallel into the wall. John noticed that the sockets were about the same size as the plasma pistol charger units that he regularly found scattered around the battlefield. They were near indestructible, and had provided him with cover on countless occasions.  
Gradually his mind began to relax and he carefully laid himself down on the bed. At first he was unsure if the Covenant furniture would take the weight of his armour, but it quickly became apparent that the bed was intended for someone of a similar size; probably the Arbiter. Even Elites had to sleep at some point.  
John eventually began to drift, but it was far from the calm and serene slumber that he had hoped for. Instead it was a restless and haunted sleep.  
Despite the presence of the Arbiter and Cortana only a corridor away, and a ship full of loyal and trusted allies, John felt intolerably lonely. Now he remembered why he had always resisted sleep so much. It was the absence of old friends.

Suddenly the single amber coloured orb on the wall bleeped and pulsed, yanking John back into the conscious world.  
John jumped out of bed with a thud, and quickly rushed over to the orb and pressed it. There was a short high pitched whine before the Arbiters voice sounded through the wall. "Spartan, your presence is required on the bridge. There is something that you need to see."  
John ran out of the small room and headed for the bridge, dodging several Elites who all turned and looked at their new addition to the ships crew.  
It seemed odd to John to be racing through a Covenant assault carrier without a hail of plasma fire stinging at his heels. Instead, all of the crew were going about their daily ritual of maintenance, security and preparation.  
John quickly arrived at the bridge. The two polished, armoured doors slid silently apart.  
John slowed to a walk, and entered.  
Inside the bridge were a multitude of screens and consoles, all dressed in a familiar tone of turquoise and purple.  
The interior of any Covenant vessel always surprised John, regardless of the number of times he was in one. They were such a stark contrast to the continuous lines of grey of a UNSC ship. They looked alive almost.

The far end of the bridge had a main view screen, and a small conference table that was equipped with a holo-projector. Cortana was stood, bathed in her blue light, on the top of the table with her hands on her hips, staring at the image on the main screen.  
The Arbiter and Rtas were also stood at the table, looking at the same image with an unusual expression on their faces. It looked as though they were both deeply troubled and strained with excitement.  
Cortana was the first to notice John's arrival. "Chief, we've received a surveillance recording from an Elite reconnaissance probe. What it shows is somewhat disturbing."  
John joined them at the table and saw for himself what they were looking at.  
In the image was a world unfamiliar to him. Its atmosphere was a dark and murky brown with spots of orange as thousands of fires raged on the surface. John then moved his attention to the upper atmosphere of the planet, where a storm of debris was caught in the planets gravity. "What are we looking at?" he gasped.  
The Arbiter turned. "This, Spartan, is the home world of the Brutes – Doisac."  
John moved closer to the screen. "What happened?"  
Cortana responded by rewinding and playing the footage.

The previous view of a broken and shattered world was now replaced by a more prosperous and flourishing planet. Wisps' of white cloud were scattered around the atmosphere, and a jigsaw of deep blue seas provided a much healthier view to the one before.  
The image slowly zoomed out before panning to the right, revealing a trio of Covenant cruisers. The probe followed them as they moved towards a more distant, and as yet unrecognisable, object.  
As they neared the object a bright lance of green fire struck out, cleaving one of the cruisers in half in a single deadly beam.  
The lights on the butchered ship flickered and fluttered before giving up, and a series of small explosions rocked the decapitated sections as they slowly floated away from the other two ships. The other two cruisers immediately opened fire, stabbing at the dark and distant vessel with volleys of blue plasma. The surface of the unfamiliar ship rippled as though absorbing the impact of the weapons fire.  
The cruisers fired again, this time with torpedoes. The dark vessel turned, exposing its starboard side to the storm of small suns that were racing towards it.  
Another bolt of green energy extended from the hull of the ship, which jumped from torpedo to torpedo, extinguishing each orb of fire as it went.  
It was then that John realised he had seen this sickening display of power before, "The enemy." He muttered.  
Despite the overwhelming firepower displayed by the enemy ship, one of the plasma torpedoes managed to get through, smashing into the hull of the alien vessel. The surface rippled once again as the torpedo exploded in a bright glare before settling back to its standard shape.  
Sensing defeat against a superior enemy, the two brute cruisers turned and fled, heading back to the planet where a much larger fleet now waited. The probe followed the pursuit of the alien vessel as it reached the Brutes home world. Almost immediately, the fleet of brute ships fired at the approaching intruder.

The hull of the ship rippled and rolled as each torpedo and lance of plasma was absorbed.  
Occasionally a small burst of iridescent fire erupted from the alien ship, but John was unsure whether this was from the amassed firepower of the Brute fleet, or a form of exhaust that was venting the incredible energy that was being absorbed.  
Then the alien ship fired.  
The green claw of energy jumped from the hull of each ship, destroying each one in turn before following up with a lance of fire that scythed its way through the fleet.  
Only a Brute capital ship remained intact, its shields shimmering in the storm.

The Brute ship replied with everything it had, but, as before, each attack fell harmlessly on the alien vessel like the sparks of a furnace splashing on the ground.  
The alien vessel returned fire once more. This time the shields wavered and then collapsed before the capital ship exploded.  
The alien vessel simply moved on towards the planet before bombarding the surface, and then leaving the system.

"Though it may please me to see the brutes destroyed," began the Arbiter "It disturbs me to see this level of firepower, laying waste to the very ships that we have, and the worlds that we hold dear."

"I know what you mean," Replied John sympathetically. "Cortana show me the ship again."

Cortana flashed a magnified and enhanced shot of the alien vessel on the main screen. Its characteristics were almost identical to the vessel they had seen orbiting the Forerunner world, but it was not the same ship.

Cortana voiced the collective thought of the group, "As you can see they have more than one ship."

"Let us assume then," began Rtas "That they have a fleet of such craft. All of similar design and intent."

They all agreed.

"Were there any survivors?" John enquired.

Every Elite including the Arbiter and Rtas turned to face John, as though puzzled by his concern.

"We need to know the extent of the damage, and the possible limits of the alien's weaponry." Interrupted Cortana

"Of course; we'll send the probe in for a closer look." Offered the Arbiter

They waited for over an hour as the probes telemetry was relayed to the Shadow of Intent.  
One of the bridge consoles bleeped, announcing its arrival. Rtas activated the console and studied the information. Even with his half jaw, the look portrayed by Rtas was obvious, it was shock and surprise.  
"The probe has detected around 1.2 million Jiralhanae," he announced "of the 12.5 billion that once existed."

"My god." Remarked Cortana

Cortana was not the only one in shock at the announcement. The room was filled with quiet chatter from the residing bridge crew, all of them voicing their concern.

"Quiet!" barked Rtas

"We need a solution, and we need it fast." Voiced John

"I agree Spartan." replied the Arbiter, strolling around the bridge in thought. "I think it is time that we departed for your Home world. Your species has a talent for defeating those more advanced than yourselves. Let us hope that that is the same in this case."

John nodded.

"What do you think chief?" whispered Cortana on the secure COM channel. "Do you think they'll be able to come up with a plan back home?"

"I don't know," Replied John as he stared at the frozen image of the alien vessel "but I think we could use a few more Spartans right now."

John sat back in one of the bridge chairs as the Arbiter ordered the ship to Earth. For once in his life he was apprehensive and uncertain of the road ahead.  
The Covenant was split in two, and humanity was still rebuilding its shattered empire.  
Of all the encounters and experiences in his life, the next forty-eight hours would prove the most important.  
John relaxed in the chair before falling into a semi-conscious sleep. He was exhausted, and needed all the sleep he could get. He was unsure as to when he would be able to rest again.

The assault carrier plunged into slipspace, and disappeared.

* * *

**Part 17**

March 29th 2553, Cairo defence platform, orbiting Earth

Lord Hood calmly strolled along the observation deck, checking the repaired sections as he went. The Covenant Elite repair teams had done an excellent job with the limited resources that they had available. Even the corps of engineers had displayed an interest in their methods.  
With the War now over mankind was finally able to start rebuilding.  
The Arbiter had left a small fleet to maintain security, and to help with the rebuilding process. They had even managed to repair the majority of the UNSC fleet that had been crippled in the initial invasion.

Hood reached the main command cell of the station, which was still a mess.  
The main desk, which had previously been covered in thermal reconnaissance images and satellite photography, was now a broken pile crumpled metal, and the rest of the room was no better.  
Despite his own discomfort with his current abode, the welfare of humanity and the operational effectiveness of the fleet were far more important. He had insisted that the Elites concentrate on those areas instead of the small insignificant areas of detail.  
The one thing that he was more than grateful for was a new addition to the stations defences. In this case Covenant shielding.

The Elites had gone out of their way to try and make up for the damage and destruction they had caused in the war, but more surprisingly was the news of terraforming and repair work on Reach. The Elites were doing their best to bring the planet back to its former glory, and to make it habitable again.  
"If only the chief was here to see it." Hood thought to himself.  
He sat down in one of the few available chairs, and stared at the main view screen as two of the newly repaired ships glided passed the station.  
Despite the addition of shielding on the station, the Elites had refused to add any form of plasma based weaponry; one excuse was that the MAC guns were more than enough firepower. And in a way he had to agree.  
The Covenant had initially gained respect for only two things in the UNSC arsenal – MAC guns and Spartans. Both were deadly and had resulted in the deaths of thousands of Covenant personnel and equipment.  
The other excuse had been that mankind was not ready for that kind of technology, and that only members of the Covenant were privy to that kind of technology.  
"Sir," announced one of the operations officers "the lunar refueling depot and the 3rd fleet both report ready. The northern hemisphere defence grid should be online in just over six hours, and the surface recovery teams have gained access to the artifact."  
"Good, keep me posted commander."  
"Aye sir."  
The Elites had been extremely accommodating with regards to the artifact. Hood had expected them to demand a share in the spoils of exploration and the Forerunner technology that was hidden within. Instead though, they had steered clear of the entire structure, simply leaving humanity to it.  
To Hood, the news of gaining access to the structure had come too late. He felt that if they had discovered something like this when the war first started, then millions of lives would have been saved.  
He shook his head, clearing his mind. A lot had happened and there was no room for thoughts of turning back the clock and repairing the damage.  
Hood picked up a small red file from the desk in front of him. Contained within was the debriefing report from the Arbiter after his return to Earth without the Chief. Technicians had managed to recover a lot of the log and navigation telemetry, but the previous location of the now destroyed Ark was beyond the outer rim of not just this galaxy, but a more distant barred spiral galaxy, in this case NGC 1300.  
NGC 1300 was a distant galaxy located over 61 million light years away, in the Eridanus cluster.  
If the chief was still alive, which seemed incredibly unlikely, he was beyond the reach of any Covenant or UNSC vessel.  
Hood thumbed through the rest of the document, stopping at the image of the Chief and Cortana. The photograph had been recovered from the security log on the station itself, during the initial invasion of earth.  
The image portrayed a determined and resilient soldier, along with the ingenious Cortana and the late Sergeant Major Johnson.  
Hood closed the folder and tossed it onto the table with a heavy sigh.  
He looked around at the other officers in the command cell; all of them were busy with their work.  
After another quick glance at the photographs of the master chief, Hood rose up from his brown cracked leather chair and proceeded to walk around the cramped command cell.

During the war with the Covenant, Hood had been an extremely busy individual.  
He was constantly charged with the responsibilities of a more senior rank, but this was war and things needed to be done. If he wasn't out with the fleet he was busy planning for the next stage of an assault, or an attempt to take back what was previously human controlled space.  
But the war was now over, and though he was pleased with saving of life, and the end to the destruction and carnage, he had to admit that he was now...bored.  
His days were now filled with inspections of newly repaired facilities and ships, and an endless stream of situation reports all of them filled with the rambling words of over enthusiastic ONI commanders. The paperwork was relentless.  
"Commander Richards, If you need me I'll be in my quarters, trying to fix my bed again."  
"Aye sir. If you want I can get an engineer up to help you." Offered Richards  
Hood turned, mid stride, "I think the engineers have more pressing matters commander, but thanks for the gesture."

Hood managed to walk another twenty feet from the doors of the command cell before the onboard COM channel crackled into life, it was Richards. "Sir I apologize for the intrusion, but there is something here that you need to see."  
"Don't tell me, another ONI director wants me to spare him a ship and he's offering to show me the Intel." Replied Hood with some irritation  
"No sir, there's a slipspace rupture forming about twelve thousand kilometres off to starboard, it appears there is a Covenant vessel coming through."  
"I take it this is an unscheduled arrival commander?" bellowed Hood  
"Yes sir, sensors indicate that it's the Arbiters flagship, but there are traces of recent weapons fire."  
Hood's quick walk turned into a full on sprint, and he charged into the command cell with a new found sense of urgency. Finally he had something worthwhile to see to, instead of a pile of papers to be signed.

On the main display of the command cell were the familiar scene of a Slipspace opening, and the now visible prow of the Arbiters flagship.  
"I thought the Arbiter wasn't expected back here for another four months?" questioned Hood.  
Suddenly a disturbing thought occurred to him. What if the Brutes had gained an upper hand in the civil war? What if this vessel was not under the Arbiters control, but a group of specialised Brute commandos on a suicidal mission to Earth? He couldn't be sure, but he wasn't taking any chances.  
"Damn! All hands, battle stations, possible incoming threat! He bellowed. "Commander activate shields and bring the weapons online!"  
"Aye sir, shields up, weapons powering to maximum. Archer pods ready."  
Hood stared at the image as the ship appeared in full before him. There was no visible damage, but the Covenant had always been more proficient at repairs than the UNSC.  
"Sir there are several Elite vessels demanding a reason for our current alert status. What should I tell them?" asked Richards  
"Inform them that it's protocol when there's an unscheduled arrival, and that we'll - ..."  
Hood was cut off before he could finish his sentence by a familiar voice  
"Lord Hood this is the Arbiter,"  
"Welcome back Arbiter. I'm pleased to see you again, but we were not expecting you for another four months." Probed Hood  
"I realise that my return is a little unexpected, but it is not without a valid reason. I bring an old friend. One that I am sure you have not forgotten." He replied with a smile.  
Hood looked on as the image of the Arbiter on the view screen was replaced by an armoured figure, and a small but bright orb of precision and ingenuity: it was the Master Chief and Cortana.

Hood took a step back and gasped, whilst most of the staff in the command cell erupted into a roar of cheer and laughter. They were clearly elated by the relieving sight, but Hood knew that he shouldn't be seeing either of them.  
"Chief, Cortana," nodded hood in respect "It's good to see you both again"  
"Likewise sir. It's good to be back." Replied John  
Hood suddenly remembered his duties and where he was, "Commander lower the shields and stand down. Feel free to dock at pylon alpha."

Hood sprinted as fast as his legs would allow him to the docking port on the northern section of the station.  
In a period following the most destructive war in mankind's history, they needed something positive to show Humanity that all would be well. The return of the greatest hero in of all time was certainly that sign.

By the time Hood reached the docking port there was already a guard of honour assembled there. Each of the dressed marines were wearing more than just their elaborately decorated uniform, they were also wearing a collection of planet sized smiles.  
Hood caught himself smiling in one of the many monitors that littered the deck. He was tempted to jump into the air, cheers loudly enough that they would hear him back on Earth and then head up to the officer's mess with the Arbiter, Cortana and the chief and get drunk beyond all belief. But much to his own dismay he was expected to exhibit a more commanding and responsible figure.  
Hood cleared his throat, straightened his jacket and marched sharply over the honour guard.  
The residing sergeant saluted him before turning the rest of the marines with the order to present arms. They responded in a typical manner of professionalism.  
The watch officer suddenly appeared from around the corner, still fixing his ceremonial sword.  
"Hurry it up Lieutenant. The last thing that our guest needs is wait a little longer."  
The Lieutenant quickened his step and filed in front of the honour guard, "Sorry sir, I had to come via deck twelve; the gravity plating is down again."  
Hood was about to reply with a more aggressive remark than usual, but the opening of the airlock doors changed his mind.  
The honour guard snapped back to attention and presented arms a second time, but this time it was for the Arbiter and his guests.  
Hood held out his hand, "Welcome back Master Chief, I owe you a debt of gratitude that cannot possible repay, but I'll do my utmost to try."  
"Thank you sir." Replied John as he shook hands with Lord Hood.  
Cortana jumped to the nearest holo-plinth, drowning the honour guard in a sea of blue light.  
"Sir I know that a lot of people will be pleased to see us both, but we have more urgent matters to attend to."

_Earth date: March 29th 2553, location unknown_

"Master, the Reclaimer has reached the target. It appears we will be able to destroy both him and the species he protects."  
"Good, send twelve ships to the planet and destroy everything in sight. If the Forerunners have returned then we will make sure that there is nothing for them to return to."

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 18**

_05:37 GMT March 30th 2553, The Office of Strategic Command, Frankfurt, Germany  
_

John stood patiently in the dimly lit room, waiting for the line of officers to digest the information.  
Cortana had been more than thorough in their collective debrief on the new alien threat, and Hood had been extremely supportive throughout the process, reiterating that he would have done the same, if the situation had presented itself to him instead of the Chief and Cortana.  
Surprisingly though, the board of officers that now sat in front of him were unimpressed with the news of yet another threat. But what worried John most was the fact that they reacted with, not shock and fear, but almost a level of overconfidence, bordering on cocky.  
They had obviously forgotten that the only reason why Humanity had survived in the end was because of the split within the Covenant. Not because the UNSC had delivered a killer blow, which is what these blind fools seemed to think.

John shifted his weight from one side to the other; he was steadily becoming frustrated by the lack of urgency, something which one of the silver haired officers noticed.  
"Master Chief," He started.  
John braced back into a more attentive posture. "Yes sir."  
"Though we applaud your outstanding record in the war with the Covenant, and the sacrifices that have been made by the SPARTAN II program, we all feel that the situation with this new 'Enemy' could have been handled better."  
Cortana jumped into the conversation, "Sir if I may remind you, the Forerunner technology was operating independently, with no interference from either myself of the Chief."  
The officer leant back slightly in his chair, as though recoiling from the rapid verbal barrage.  
"I understand that…Cortana," the officer was reluctant to acknowledge an AI by their name. "But the Chief fired first, not the aliens. There should have been some attempt to communicate."  
"If we had attempted to communicate…sir!" blasted Cortana "Then we would not be stood here. The alien vessel fired on the facility after the planet based weaponry activated and fired autonomously. After crash-landing, the aliens then made their way into the structure using their weapons to neutralise anything in their path, and that would have included us."

Sensing that the main subject and purpose of the debrief was being lost, John stepped in to refocus the conversation. "Sir, if I may, I think that we need to concentrate on this new threat."  
The officer relaxed. "Of course Master Chief, please continue."  
"This new threat is obviously focussed on anything related to the Forerunners, or their technology. And as Earth is now host to a large Forerunner artefact as are many other present and former colonies, I think it's fair to say that we haven't seen the last of these aliens."

The officer shuffled some papers on his desk, thumbing through some of the images of the aliens in question before looking up at John. "Go on."  
"The Arbiter agrees, as do Cortana and Lord Hood that we need to act quickly if we are to survive any attack from them."  
"What makes you think they'll come here Master Chief?" voiced another officer with red hair.  
John turned to face the officer directly, "Because sir, we are linked in many ways to the Forerunners. We are supposedly their descendants."  
The red haired officer immediately interjected, "There is no concrete proof of that Master Chief."  
"Perhaps not, but I don't think these aliens care. They'll still come regardless of the facts. And when they do, we need to be ready for them."

Another officer sat at the centre of the board, rapped his fingers on desk before speaking. "What do you propose we do Master Chief?" he said calmly.  
"We need to coordinate with the Elites a suitable plan of defence. I suggest that every ship in the fleet has its MAC gun modified to operate at a higher rate of fire, and that all ground troops use high velocity armour piercing rounds, and where possible, Gauss weapons and ammunition."  
The officer in the centre of the table quickly turned to look at the far right hand corner of the room, where a dark shadow was cast. John had noticed that someone was stood there when he first came in, so it was no surprise when the officer started speaking to a collection of shadows.  
"General Moore, do we have anything in R&D that would help the Master Chief in any way?"  
John's interest was immediately peaked with the mention of R&D. He knew what it stood for - Research & Development. Most of his weaponry, including the more recent Spartan laser, had come from this enigma filled arm of the UNSC.  
The general in the corner took a single step forward. "The Master Chief needn't worry about what firepower he'll have. It's all in good hands." He said quietly.  
The senior officer in the middle nodded in concurrence, and the general quietly disappeared into the shadows.

"I understand your point of view Master Chief, and I agree,"  
Cortana immediately smiled.  
The officer continued, "I believe I speak for us all and the rest of humanity, when I say that we fully support you. This new threat will no doubt present itself in the very near future, so I believe it is important for us to prepare for the worst, by selecting our best."  
John tried not to read into the comment too much, but it was the last part of the officer's sentence that had caught his attention – 'by selecting our best'. Did he mean by selecting John, or were there more Spartans to choose from?  
He tried to resist the urge to ask, but his attempts for once, were futile. "Sir, am I the last? Am I the last Spartan?"  
A huge cat-like grin creeped across the face of the officer, "I think there is only one person that can answer that question Master Chief."  
John was puzzled. What did he mean?

The officer pressed a small COM switch on the desk in front of him and spoke, "Lieutenant Wellens, please show the good doctor in."  
"Yes sir." came the reply.  
The double doors behind John quietly opened, and a slender female figure with dark hair walked into the room wearing a white lab coat. In her left hand was a pair of glasses, which she was thumbing back and forth. In her right, a steaming cup of coffee.  
John gazed in amazement at the person in front of him. She had a huge beaming smile, and was eye-locked to the point of paralysis. It had been so long since he'd seen a familiar face. A face that had helped make him the soldier that he was today.  
"I'd know that rock solid stance anywhere." She said.  
"Hello Doctor Halsey." John said nervously.  
"I've told you before John, just call me Catherine." She grinned.

John offered her a hand to shake, but instead Catherine dropped the steaming coffee cup on the floor and tried to embrace him like a small child. The bulky armour made it difficult, but not impossible.  
"It's so good to see you again John." whispered Catherine, before noticing Cortana standing patiently on the nearby holo-plinth.  
"Good afternoon doctor." waved Cortana.  
Catherine barely pried herself away from John's arms, "I hope you've been keeping him out of trouble Cortana."  
"Actually doctor, he's been keeping me out of trouble." replied Cortana.

"Ahem!" coughed the officer at the desk. "Master Chief. Doctor Halsey arrived only four days before you did, and she brought some help."  
John pulled himself away slightly to look directly at Doctor Halsey. "Kelly?" He enquired.  
John had been worried about Kelly, after doctor Halsey had disappeared with her on a ship over a year ago.  
"Better than that John. I brought a family of Spartans with me." she said excitedly. "Some you'll know, others you won't."  
The doors to the room opened again and in walked a collection of Spartans. Three of them were wearing armour very similar to John's. Three more, smaller figures walked softly into the room behind the more familiar Spartans, but these were wearing an armour configuration that he was not familiar with.  
Doctor Halsey pointed to each of the Spartans in turn. "This as I'm sure you know is Kelly, Linda and Fred. The other Spartans are from the SPARTAN III program, which was initiated by Colonel Ackerson. Ash, Olivia and Mark I'd like to introduce you to John."  
The younger, smaller Spartans although in their armour could still be heard gasping with awe. But Fred, Kelly and Linda were, for once in their lives, far less restrained as they each grabbed John in a bone crushing bear hug that would have killed an ordinary man.

The officer coughed a second time, "Excuse me doctor, Master Chief. I know it's been a while, but we have a lot to discuss."  
All of the Spartans, young and old, immediately braced in unison. "Yes sir!" they bellowed.  
Kelly activated a secure COM channel to John, "Welcome back to Blue Team." She whispered.

* * *

**Part 19**

_March 31st 2553 _  
_R&D Field testing range, Otterburn, United Kingdom _

John walked along the snow covered track leading to the firing range. The coarse, dark grey, gravel crunched beneath his heavy footsteps.  
Kelly, along with the rest of the Spartans, had opted to walk the remaining three miles to the range compound. Whilst Doctor Halsey, Lord Hood, General Moore and a host of technicians had travelled ahead by Warthog.  
Although the Arbiter was eager to train with the Spartans, he had the responsibility of overseeing the process of fitting as many human vessels as possible with Covenant shielding.  
Based on the footage of the attack on the Brute's home world, the addition of shielding would hopefully give the human ships a second chance to fire their MAC weapons.

John was looking forward to trying out the new weaponry that the General had briefly mentioned, but he was mainly curious as to what had happened to Kelly and the others, and how they made it back to Earth.  
"So what happened then?" he probed "What happened with you and the doctor?"  
Kelly remained silent for a moment. She was just happy to be to making idle conversation with John again.  
"Doctor Halsey took me to a planet called Onyx. It was a training facility. Similar in a way to Reach I suppose, but when we arrived we were greeted with a cloud of Forerunner sentinels. They crippled the Beatrice, and then we crashed." said Kelly kicking a large stone along the track.  
"Then what happened?" pressed John.  
"We met up with the younger Spartans, and then Fred, Will and Linda arrived via a Covenant ship they captured on Earth."  
John became intrigued with the Spartan III's. They were the same as he was, but very different in the way that they had been trained.  
"Who trained them? Who turned them into Spartans?"  
"It was all down to Chief Mendez and erm…Kurt" stuttered Kelly.  
"Kurt," Said John with surprise. "I thought he was killed years ago."  
"So did we, but it turned out to be another one of Ackerson's stunts. He'd staged the whole thing just so he would have a Spartan under his command." She replied.  
"What happened to him?" asked John, slowing his pace.

Kelly's ability to run faster than any other Spartan had some unusual side effects – guilt.  
Every other Spartan that had died either in combat, or from the effects of the augmentation on Reach, had been another reminder to Kelly that they had failed to evade whatever threat had presented itself.  
Her speed and agility in combat had saved her life on no less than sixty seven occasions.  
This meant there was a steady build up of guilt and regret over the deaths of her friends and comrades.  
Fred sensed there was something wrong, and continued the conversation on her behalf.  
"He was killed on Onyx after we evacuated. Doctor Halsey had discovered a subterranean chamber with a portal that lead to a Dyson sphere, but it was crawling with Covenant. Kurt stayed behind so we could make it through."

They all walked on in silence. Linda was tempted to join in on the conversation, but there was little that could be said without brining up another loss to the Spartan family.  
John however needed to know more. He hadn't seen any of them for over a year, and there was a lot to catch up on. "I take it Will didn't make it either." He asked quietly.  
Fred shook his head. "No. He fell fighting off the Covenant on Onyx, along with two members of Team Sabre."  
"Pity, he was a good friend and an even better soldier." remarked John.  
"That he was." said Linda softly.  
"What about Mendez? Did he make it out? probed John.  
"Yeah he made it thankfully. He was reassigned though, to an experimental ODST unit in Colorado." replied Fred, "As soon as he found out you were alive he tried everything to get over here, but the powers that be told him he had other concerns."

They all carried on talking as they walked along the track. The younger, newer Spartan III's walked quietly behind their older more experienced counterparts.  
They were just happy to listen to the old stories that were being thrown around.  
Then John mentioned the Halo structures, and all of them, including the Linda, Kelly and Fred immediately started questioning John as to what they were like.  
John started by describing the initial encounter, when he was on the Pillar of Autumn with Captain Keys.  
Of course, this was one individual that they had all known, as their primary mission to capture one of the Covenant Prophets would have been launched from the aging Halcyon vessel. But the Covenant assault on Reach put a stop to that.  
Linda felt a cold rush in her back.  
Her last memories of the Autumn were just before they left on a Pelican for the orbital station above Reach. Then she was shot in the back with a plasma rifle.  
She shuddered at the thought.  
John continued talking before he reached the one subject that was on all of their minds – The Flood.  
Olivia decided that it was time to jump into the conversation. "What were they like?" she asked.  
"Thoroughly unpleasant." replied John in a calm voice.  
The conversation returned to the enormous Halo structures.

After another five minutes of walking, they reached the crest of the track; before them lay the crater filled impact area of the range. Despite being only March, the entire area was covered in a thin layer of glistening frost.  
On the horizon the morning sunlight was slowly climbing upwards, draping the cold landscape in a blanket of warm amber.  
All of them stopped and gazed at the amazing scenery. It had been the first time since their Spartan training on Reach that they had all watched a sunrise.  
They would have stood for a lot longer, but their collective peace was quickly disturbed by the crackle of the COM network.  
"Blue Team this is Range Control, ETA over."  
John was about to reply, until he remembered that Fred was now the senior ranking Spartan.  
"After you Fred." prompted John.  
"You've always been team leader John. You make the call." Replied Fred  
John had a great deal of respect for Fred. His combat abilities and leadership rivalled his own.  
He nodded and activated the COM, "Range Control this is Blue Team. ETA - thirty seconds."  
"Acknowledged Blue; Range Control out."

John turned to face the rest of the squad.  
"Let's move Blue Team. We've still got another mile to cover."  
The Spartans responded to his command. Not by any verbal acknowledgment but by something he hadn't seen for a while.  
The team roster suddenly appeared on his HUD, and six pin pricks of green light flashed in response.  
"Kelly, you take point." Ordered John  
Kelly immediately set off along the track, her blistering speed setting the pace for the squad.  
The rest of the Spartans set off behind her, trying their best to keep up with Kelly. But she had always been faster. After only 28 seconds she arrived at the range compound, shortly followed by the John and the others.  
General Moore was the first to greet them. Assembled behind his were several teams of technicians, all crowded around four large tables.  
"Welcome to Oscar range Spartans." announced the general. "Here you will learn to use a variety of weapons, which I'm sure you will find extremely useful."

Several of the technicians moved a medium sized tactical container from the table on the far right, and carried it over to where the general was stood.  
They quickly opened the container, before the general reached inside and pulled out an unusual looking weapon.  
"This Spartans is the MK41A." instructed the general, as he pulled out what appeared to be some distant relation to the SMG, but a much larger version. "The MK41A is a short to medium range hand held gauss rifle.  
All of the Spartans took a step forward to get a closer look.

"The MK41A or HHAG (Hand Held Advanced Gauss) rifle as it's also known, is a semi-automatic, magnetic fed weapon. Capable of firing up to 450 rounds a minute. The HHAG was initially designed to combat, and defeat the superior armour and shielding of both the Covenant Elites, and the Brutes, and when necessary to neutralise the Hunter threat on the battlefield."

John reached over and picked up another one of the weapons, feeling the weight and balance of the new addition to the Spartan arsenal.  
"Have these been field tested sir?" he asked  
The generals face quickly turned from a sly confident grin to a more serious and worried expression.  
"They were tested briefly Chief; both in development and in the field. Unfortunately seven marines were killed when we encountered some…cooling issues."  
"Cooling issues?" remarked Kelly  
Sensing that the Spartans needed a more reassuring voice, Doctor Halsey quickly intervened.  
"The previous designs were somewhat flawed. But we did managed to reverse engineer the cooling system on the Covenant plasma rifle, and adapt it to suit the HHAG" explained Catherine, pointing to the unusual cooling fins on the side of the weapon  
"You need us to test out the new design, don't you?"  
"I'm afraid so Chief." replied the general, gritting his teeth.  
Catherine took a step closer to the group, "The new design has been test fired, but it needs a more rigorous workout. Should the cooling system fail, I'd rather have a fully suited Spartan holding the weapon."  
John nodded, "Understood."  
"There's a CQB (Close Quarter Battle) range over to the east Chief, take your team over there and try out the HHAG's." instructed Moore.  
John acknowledged the order, and all of the Spartans proceeded to make themselves more familiar with the HHAG.

Each weapon was fitted with a sound suppression system, an optical and thermal sight and a magazine filled with 40 of the micro-darts.  
Each dart was effectively a small fin discarding titanium round. When fired, each micro-dart was accelerated to sub-light velocities – making them highly effective against even the most heavily armoured of foes.  
Covenant shielding on an Elite, or the large bulk of the Hunters would be penetrated with ease – immediately killing the target.  
John had used the HHAG's larger, older cousin: the Gauss cannon, which was mounted on LAAV version of the Warthog. But even these could take several shots to bring down Hunters or Wraith tanks, never mind a new and even more deadly threat.  
John just hoped that the HHAG was a much improved design to that of the Gauss cannon.

Whilst everyone was checking their equipment, John walked over to Doctor Halsey.  
"Doctor...any news on Cortana?"  
Cortana had been taken from the comfort of John's armour shortly after he received his formal debrief.  
Her lifespan had been seriously depleted due to her permanent active status. When Doctor Halsey had performed a simple diagnostic of her system she had discovered that Cortana only had an operational lifespan of another 12 weeks.  
Doctor Halsey had ordered that the technicians do all they could to increase her life expectancy.  
Initially the outlook had been positive, but even with the addition of Covenant technology, extending Cortana's lifespan to a figure beyond the typical 7-year point would prove more than difficult.  
Catherine tried to smile, but she had little news for John.  
The technicians were still working around the clock to correct the inherent design flaw that every AI had. Almost unlimited processing power came with a significant price, an incredibly short operational life.  
"I'm sorry John," she said with a sigh. "But I haven't heard anything that might indicate there's a solution."  
John gave his trademark nod, and then simply turned and walked away with the rest of his Spartans, heading for the range.

The CQB range was a collection of naturally created lanes in the landscape. Each lane was flanked by two large walls of earth which, like the rest of the range, was covered in a mix of grass, heather and small tuft like mounds of hard mud.  
Some of the lanes were small – designed exclusively for one person. But most were large enough for two people.  
Further along the lanes were a series of automated targets, which were staggered along at irregular intervals. Each target was usually a thin sheet of aluminum, but with the sudden change of weaponry and ballistics, the general had ordered an upgrade of armour on all of the targets. Each one was now covered in a skin of ablative armour that was more commonly found on the front of a Scorpion tank.  
John told everyone to pair off and make their way up their corresponding lane.  
The first run would be in slow time. So they could become more familiar with the HHAG's capabilities. After that each pair would be race up the range lanes, using cover, changing fire positions and generally being more aggressive in their assault.  
Each of the newer Spartan III's was paired off with a Spartan II.  
Kelly was with Olivia, whilst Fred casually strolled up the range with Mark. Linda crept along with Ash firing as they went.  
John walked up one of the other smaller lanes on his own, followed at some distance by Doctor Halsey.  
The first target had been fashioned into the basic outline of a Brute chieftain. Complete with gravity hammer and an elaborate headpiece that had been fashioned from wood by an obviously bored range warden.  
John calmly raised the short barreled HHAG and aimed it at the target. The optical sight immediately adjusted to his armour variant, and an enhanced image of the target appeared on his HUD.  
John switched the safety to fire and caressed the trigger.  
The HHAG coughed and a single thunderous round flew from the barrel, heading for the heavily armoured target. A small puff of smoke and a single bright spark briefly danced on the skin of the metal before giving way to a hole almost four times the size of the micro-dart.  
Beyond and through the smoldering hole, John could see a small patch of smoking grass immediately behind the target.  
Still pointing the weapon at the target, John turned his head to look at Doctor Halsey. "Tell the general that I like his new toy."  
Catherine simply smiled and then continued to follow John as he advanced along the CQB lane, firing as he went.

John like the rest of the Spartans, enjoyed another 2 hours of racing up and down the range. By the time they had finished, each target was almost completely destroyed.  
All of them agreed that the HHAG was a dream weapon.  
The other weapons that General Moore had laid out were simple upgrades of present weapons - Assault rifles that were fitted with armour piercing rounds and a more powerful version of the BR55 battle rifle, along with a magnum pistol with an improved firing system and rate of fire.  
The General explained that there was more in the pipeline, but they need to ascertain whether the HHAG was a combat ready weapon.  
But something wasn't quite right. John could feel it. He started to wish that Kurt was with him so that he could use his accurate hunches and premonition-like feelings.  
The security around the range was quite significant, even with the possible threat of this new species that could arrive at any time. John felt uncomfortable.  
He opened the secure COM and activated the one frequency that only Spartans used.  
"Fred, did you notice anything unusual when we arrived?"  
"No not really. Although this place is crawling with marines, and I keep seeing a pair of Hornets patrolling the line of cliffs to the north." Replied Fred  
"Something's not right."  
"I know what you mean John. But then again, maybe people are just a little jumpy after the war." Offered Fred  
"No. It's something else."

John walked over to General Moore, tightening his grip on the impressive HHAG.  
"General."  
Moore smiled, "Yes Master Chief."  
"What's going on?"  
"I...don't know what you mean Chief." Replied Moore with an odd expression  
John grabbed the General by the scruff of his neck and lifted him effortlessly off the ground.  
"Bull-blam!- sir. You brought me and my team along for more than just a weapons test. What the hell is going on?" boomed John  
The General tried to struggle from John's vice-like grip, but there was no way out.  
"I strongly suggest that you put me down Master Chief," Moore continued to struggle "Or you may be on the receiving end of a court marshal!"  
John lifted him higher, "Sir I recommend that YOU tell me what the hell is going on!"  
Catherine came running over along with the other Spartans.  
"John, what are you doing? Put the general down." Pleaded Catherine  
"I won't ask again sir" warned John as he tightened his grip again.  
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry Doctor, Chief. But there is more to this weapon test than a simple run along the range area."  
John lowered the General to the floor. "Go on."  
"When we were mopping up the Covenant resistance in the area around here, a small group of Brutes made a run for a network of caves along the cliffs to the north. We sent in some ODST's and marines to clear them out, but they were all killed. We need you to head down and clear the cave system."  
Doctor Halsey stood there, wide eyed with shock and disbelief. Then she slapped Moore across the face, "Bastard!" she yelled.

John smiled inside his helmet. "Well blue team, you heard the General. We've got some apes to clear."  
John and the other Spartans readied their weapons before marching across the range towards the cliff face to the north.

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 20**

_Otterburn Firing Range, United Kingdom  
_

John and the others made their way on towards the cliff face to the north. Each of them were brandishing the HHAG as though it was some kind of metallic child, holding it close to their armour.  
Olivia had reclaimed her role on point with Mark close behind. He like Linda, were the only two carrying the reliable and deadly sniper rifle.  
Mark was walking with his rifle permanently aimed at the distant cave entrance. Occasionally he would briefly stop to use the rifles powerful scope to check out the entrance as Olivia carried on ahead, blending into the knee-high grass and patches of heather that covered most of the area.  
John walked alongside Fred in an almost casual manner, but this was far from the truth. Each Spartan was well prepared and determined to see out any encounter, no matter the enemy, or the weapons they carried.

About fifty metres to the left of John and Fred, Kelly moved along in a half-crouched walk, nimbly avoiding the large tufts of grass and earth with un-rivalled grace.  
Each tuft of peat filled mud was the size of a large water melon. If this path had been walked by a marine with his usual pair of issued boots then the trip would most likely be brief, and filled with sprains or a fractured ankle.  
The terrain, although green and pleasant, was littered with these so called 'Babies heads'. The British based military arm of the UNSC often referred to these irregular mounds of earth as fields of heads. All of which could break the ankle of any unwary soldier.

Since John's arrival on Earth he had received a brief upgrade of armour plating and software. Something which now enabled him to see all of his squad members military records, and he was impressed with the new additions to the squad.  
To the right strode the confident and eager Ash. And despite his youth, especially when compared with the Spartan II's, he had matured into a proficient and capable leader.  
Olivia was a well-proven scout and as quiet as the smallest of cats, whilst Mark was the younger version of Linda, and just as capable with a sniper rifle.  
John could see that Kurt had performed admirably in his role as an instructor.

John was pleased that he had been reunited with his remaining Spartans, but despite this he was concerned with his constant absence from Cortana.  
Her voice had provided sound advice since she had been installed into his armour all those years ago on Reach.  
Since defeating the loyalist arm of the Covenant and the lie filled uttering's of the prophets, John had thought that his remaining time alive would be filled with endless conversations with Cortana as they glided in empty space.  
She would no doubt discuss every previous encounter with the Covenant, analysing each combat scenario to a degree that a neurosurgeon would be proud of.  
He had anticipated that her eventual descent into rampancy would be quickly followed by his own madness, something which he was content with. His role in the war with the Covenant had been fulfilled, and all of his enemies had been cut from their delicate grip on life.  
John had finally relinquished himself to an eternity of silence, far from the sickening sound of screams and gunfire, and the bright blue light of exploding plasma.  
But as he soon discovered, Cortana was not his only concern.

When the other Spartans had escaped the assaulting army of Covenant soldiers on Onyx, they had found themselves in an environment filled with wonder. All of it created by the Forerunners.  
But Doctor Halsey had other priorities. In addition to the desire to escape the artificial prison that had protected them since their arrival, they needed to uncover the Forerunners advanced grip on technology to free another squad of Spartan III's.  
Team Sabre had been imprisoned in a series of stasis pods, but their method of capture was presently beyond the abilities of Doctor Halsey and the full weight of the UNSC advanced research division.  
He knew full well that mankind had an understanding of Slipspace, but it was only enough to send space faring vessels through to their remote and distant destinations.  
It was simply a question of knowledge and experience in a field that mankind was quite new to. The Covenant were however, more experienced in this area. But even they had been at a loss to solve the Sentinel induced puzzle of Slipspace enveloped stasis pods.

John's other additions were also a concern. Lucy another of the Spartan III's, was currently receiving treatment for posttraumatic vocal disarticulation - a condition that prevented her from speaking.  
John was unsure whether this was from any physical trauma, but whatever the case, he wished her a speedy recovery.  
But regrettably his reasons for wishing this were not born from sympathy, but a need for more soldiers, soldiers that could give mankind another glimmer of hope, against a formidable foe.  
John was sometimes disappointed that he lacked the almost sympathetic attitude to his fellow Spartans. Unlike Fred he always concentrated on the objective. Achieving it was what he strode for. And unfortunately, that often came at a heavy price.

Tom was another of the Spartan III survivors, but his responsibility currently revolved around Team Sabre. There was little he could do apart from provide a presence in case the technicians were successful. Something which John thought was unlikely, at least for now.  
The technicians also had another mystery to solve. Both John and the other Spartans had managed to get back to Earth by finding a Forerunner hangar. Now the UNSC was in possession of two advanced vessels.  
Unfortunately these two craft were only shuttles, but they would hopefully provide some answers in the search for new technology.  
John's return journey to Earth had been brief, but the other Spartans had had further to travel, in addition to carrying the doctor around after she slipped and fractured an ankle.

John refocused on their new objective. The Brutes would be desperate after the weeks that had passed since their defeat. Not to mention the initial bombardment of the cave entrance.  
They were lucky that there was any entrance at all.  
The bombing of the cave had been stopped after an orbiting Elite vessel had detected an unusual energy reading from beneath the cliff face.  
The residing Elite fleet master at the time had offered his assistance to Hood in clearing the cave, but Hood's initial acceptance of the offer was quickly overruled for reasons that were unknown to him.  
John was unsure where the order to deny assistance had come from, but he had a good idea that one of the senior officers from the debriefing yesterday had something to do with it.  
What he did know, was the reason for the order, greed and power.  
Whatever was lying beneath the cave was not only of interest to the UNSC, but to the Brutes as well. That was probably why they were even in Europe at all instead of strengthening the loyalist presence in Africa.  
"How do you want to play this?" asked Fred over the COM  
"Standard guerrilla clearance." answered John "We'll use grenades to clear the mouth of the cave and then throw in a flare for good measure."  
"Linda and Mark?" queried Fred  
"Outward flanking positions to provide accurate fire support. Then we'll call them in once we're twenty or thirty metres inside."  
Fred nodded. He liked the plan. But more than that it was like how it used to be. It was like being back on Reach.  
"Who's first in?" he asked  
"I am," Answered John confidently "then you, Kelly, Ash and Olivia. Once I'm happy its clear Olivia can put her skills to good use, and take point for the route inside. GEO says the route narrows after the entrance, and the last thing we need is a bunch of walking tanks clunking around, giving the Brutes any idea of how close we are."  
"They'll know we're here once we start throwing grenades." Noted Fred  
"I know, but the route further inside the cave will be greatly in their favour. At that point we'll need stealth, not shooting."

Mark suddenly stopped and squatted down into a fire position. All of the other Spartans immediately stopped and crouched down.  
"What is it?" asked Fred  
Mark steadied himself into a statue and stared at the mouth to the cave. "I had some movement. Not much, but enough to tell it wasn't a deer or a sheep."  
"What makes you say that?" said John  
"Because sheep aren't eight feet tall," Chuckled Mark  
John raised his thumb and fore finger to his faceplate – the Spartan smile gesture. "Good eyes Mark. Keep them open."  
They were all still a good eight hundred metres from the cave, and at that range John knew the Brutes had little in the way of weaponry that could hit them with any accuracy. But he was not one for complacency.  
"Linda, Mark. Take up a stationary fire position fifty metres to the west. If you see any more movement from the cave then relieve whatever it is of their head."  
Both of them quietly creeped off to the left; still maintaining their view on the cave as they took it in turns to cover each other.  
John immediately motioned the rest of the team to move forward.  
Olivia set off like a cheetah. The rest of them followed behind - weapons at the ready.

Olivia managed to move forward to within a hundred metres of the cave before two simultaneous high velocity shots rang out.  
"Movement sighted in the cave." Announced Linda  
Olivia dropped to the ground and immediately magnified her vision to see what they had been shooting at.  
Inside the cave and barely visible, was the shadow covered shape of a brute soldier.  
Although unable to make out what rank it was she could tell easily tell that it was minus its helmet and weapon.  
The shape quickly slumped to its knees before keeling over onto its front.  
Their was a brief scuttling sound like rapid footsteps moving over the hard wet rocks of the cave.  
John and the others ran forward into a forward fire position.  
Fred tossed two grenades into the cave, followed by two more from Kelly. A double pair of muffled explosions filled the entrance, and a small cloud of stones and dust erupted from the darkened hole.  
John moved further forward and then threw in a flare. The small golden orb bounced around inside the cave before settling behind a trio of large rocks and exploding into a small sun. Its direct glare was blocked to the outside, but the intense light still illuminated the rest of the cave.  
Another shot rang out from Linda. "That's two."  
John and the others sprinted forward to the sides of the cave entrance before the flare had finished its display.  
Another two grenades were thrown by Olivia. They exploded filling the cave with more shrapnel.  
Then John entered the cave.

John's vision quickly adjusted to the dim light, but to avoid presenting an obvious target to the brute soldiers he left his field light off.  
He heard movement several metres off to the right, behind some more rocks. He quickly turned and raised his HHAG simultaneously.  
Out from behind the rocks strode the large bulk of a Brute Chieftain. The large ape growled loudly before charging towards John.  
John calmly pulled the trigger twice and the weapon coughed two, sub light titanium darts at the Brute.  
Two large holes erupted in the chieftain's chest sending blood and gore in all directions. The brute, almost unaware of the injury continued its charge.  
John sidestepped the bloody hulk, and the brute ran headlong into the opposing cave wall and then collapsed into a heap on the ground.  
"That's three." Informed John

The rest of the Spartans moved into the cave before they descended into the darkness.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

**Part 21**

_Otterburn Firing Range Cave System,__ United Kingdom _

Olivia carefully hugged the craggy wall of the cave as she quietly made her way deeper inside the subterranean maze.  
The dull, dark walls were covered in a mix of algae and a thin coating of water, which filled the cave with a steady drumbeat of water drops as they splashed on the cave floor below. Olivia, despite being the ideal candidate for this kind of task, had to move slowly and cautiously. Any sudden or sharp movements could bring a storm of spiker fire, or worse still, she could slip.  
Almost ten minutes had past since they entered, but the only thing that they had encountered was darkness and silence. If there _were_ any more Brutes alive in the caves then they were doing their utmost to remain undetected.  
"You see anything Olivia?" John asked.  
There was a brief moment of silence before a quiet whisper fluttered over the COM. "I'm not sure. There's something ahead, but I'm not sure what. All I could see was a small amount of movement."  
John weighed up the options-which at the moment were somewhat limited. Even with their night vision as an aide the route down in the cave system was just a wash of blackness. John hated the intense silence that came with this approach to fighting, but there was little he could do until they had cleared the caves.  
Suddenly there was a loud burst of automatic fire, the familiar sound of grenades bouncing around on the hard stone floor and the bright yellow glare of another flare. The section of the cave ahead of John was illuminated by the intense light which now enabled him to see what was happening. Ahead were the glowing outlines of two brute stalkers. Both were stood rooted to the spot, half blinded, with their large heavy arms raised to shield their eyes from the light.  
John could see that Olivia was already using her HHAG rifle to good effect as one of the brutes fell to the floor. The other, dazed and confused, attempted to run but only succeeded in colliding with the cave wall. John and the other Spartans followed Olivia's lead and peppered the remaining brute with a handful of HHAG rounds.  
"It's down," Olivia announced.

John and the others moved forward to check the bodies. Unlike the methodical approach to combat that the elites had employed, brutes were always sloppy and constantly carried map coordinates, battle orders or even holographic images of their objectives on data pads.  
"Ash, Mark, carryout a thorough check. I want to know why they were here. Kelly, push through and provide cover," John ordered.  
Three of the status lights in John's display winked green in acknowledgement before all three of them cautiously moved ahead. The cave slowly descended into darkness again as the flare completed its short, fiery display.  
"Everyone use your tactical lights-that should be the last of the brutes, but proceed with caution." John said.  
Everyone activated their tactical lights and moved forward, sweeping the immediate area for any signs of further danger. Ash and Mark rolled over the brute bodies and checked them for any Intel, but there was little to go on. The only item of any interest was an old aerial image of the cave entrance and the surrounding area. This was obviously their drop zone.  
Kelly pushed ahead of the remainder of the squad and glanced down the next section of the path. She was surprised by what she saw.

"I definitely think that's the last of the brutes," Kelly reported.

"Why's that?" John asked

"I think you should come and see for yourself."  
John walked up to where Kelly was and peered towards the area she was looking at. Before him was nothing but a dead end. "I don't get it. The brutes were quite interested in this cave, and there was the energy reading; why a dead end?"  
"Maybe they just wanted some protection from the Hornet's outside," Fred offered.  
"I'm not so sure," John said. "They landed here _specifically_. That mean's that there's something here alright. The brutes just couldn't find it. If only Cortana was here."  
"You called," said a familiar voice.  
"Cortana?" John probed.  
"The one and only, Chief," she replied.  
"But…I thought," John began. "I thought you were being repaired. And how did you get back? Your chip housing is empty."  
"You would be surprised by what they can do. I'm all better now anyway."  
"How long do you have?" John asked. The idea of her only have a short space of time left was a disturbing thought, one that sent a cold shiver down his enhanced spine. He'd always thought that if she was to die as an AI then it be because his luck had finally ran out and he'd been too slow to move or duck. Not the AI equivalent of old age.  
"Another four years, give or take," she replied calmly.  
He was pleased to hear the time was in years, instead of months or weeks. With his concerns of Cortana's well-being all but satisfied, for now at least, he shifted his attention to their current dilemma, the blank rock face that stood before him.

"Any ideas Cortana?"  
"Move a little closer. So I can get a good look at it."  
John moved closer to rock face, extending his hand. Cortana suddenly appeared in her usual guise of blue and purple, in the palm of his hand. She stared at the dull slate-grey surface, lines and shapes flashing along the length of her holographic body.  
The rest of the Spartans moved forward, watching Cortana as she analysed the weak power signal and the face of the wall. As quickly as her skin had turned into a flurry of striking blue lines and shapes, her glowing form slowed to a steady stream of light.  
"Touch the wall Chief," Cortana said.  
"Touch it?" John questioned. "I'm sure the brutes would've tried that already."  
"Just try it."

John moved his hand even closer until he touched the dry surface of the wall. And that was the problem; it was dry and not dripping with moisture. There was also a distinct lack of plant life, such as moss. It was just a plain old cave wall. John expected something unusual or extraordinary to happen, but all he encountered was the hard surface of the wall, and nothing else.  
"Well, what now?" John said with a sarcastic tone.  
Cortana thought for a second--an eternity to her, before coming up with a suggestion.  
"Try it again Chief, but take off your gauntlet. Use your bare hand."  
Cortana's glowing face was strained with concentration and filled with hope. John assumed that whatever it was she was doing, it wasn't the standard way of operating. But he trusted her judgment and reached towards the wall.  
The previous hard and dry surface had become soft and malleable, like jelly. But the resistance to John's hand only last a moment before the rock face disappeared completely, revealing a long, and obviously Forerunner constructed, pathway that descended steadily for two hundred metres or so. John immediately raised his HHAG, but no threat presented itself to him or the other Spartans. He pulled on his armoured gauntlet and began to walk along the pathway.  
"John, there might be sentinels down there," Ash stated.  
John paused—mid stride. "Something tells me we're expected," he replied.  
Kelly walked up to him and nudged him in the ribs. "I see Kurt's sixth sense has rubbed off on you."  
"It's either that or all the Forerunner stuff I've encountered. You get used to it eventually," John replied.  
Olivia moved forward to take point, but John stopped her with an outstretched hand. "I'll take point this time Olivia, just in case."  
Olivia nodded and followed closely behind.  
"What do you expect to find?" Fred queried.  
"Answers," John replied.

John continued walking along the path, busily scanning the area in front for any danger. Kelly followed close behind along with Olivia, Fred and the rest of the Spartans. After a brief walk the path changed to an elevated position as it rounded a small corner section. The sight of the rock covered walls, were replaced by an open area of unbelievable size. They appeared to be on a Forerunner gantry of some sort with a colossal spire shaped structure within the centre of an excavated dome. All around the spire, on the ground level, were thousands and thousands of stasis pods.  
"I'm getting massive life-sign readings," Cortana informed.  
John heard the words but he was completely stunned by what he was looking at. The dome was so large that it's hollowed out walls were beyond the range of his enhanced eyesight. He started to regret his earlier statement to Kelly.  
"Linda, just how big is this chamber?" John asked.  
Linda raised her sniper rifle and zeroed in on the darkened end of the open area. "A little over seven kilometres in diameter," she replied.  
Cortana appeared before them, projected somehow by John's armour, on the solid handrail of the walkway. "It appears to be some kind of storage or preservation chamber. I presume the stasis pods will be full of Forerunners. I'm also detecting another area to the left. It looks similar to the hangar we encountered on the shield world."  
"How many ships?" John asked.  
"I can't say for certain, but there are at least three battleship configurations and another sixty vessels or so, all different classes. There's some electromagnetic interference that's preventing me from obtaining an accurate reading," Cortana replied in an excited tone.  
"What about the spire in the centre?"  
"Best guess…I'd say it's another type of energy weapon platform, but it's much smaller, and more recent in construction."

John quickly pondered their next move. Should they all head back to the surface for a specialised team, or make their way down to the stasis pods. Very quickly, though, he reached a decision. "We'll head down to the stasis pods; see if anyone wants a wake up call. But keep your eyes peeled, in case there are any guarding sentinels."  
Six green lights winked in acknowledgement on John's HUD, before they moved off towards a nearby lift at the end of the platform.  
Once they were down, John stepped out from the lift and onto the chamber floor. The rest of the Spartans fanned out into a line, each of them staring at the sight before them.  
As John continued walking towards the long line of stasis pods, the darkened chamber was suddenly filled with soft blue light. All of the stasis pods sprung into life and the distant Forerunner vessels were now covered in the familiar slashes of blue light.

A soft hum began to emit from all around them.  
All of the Spartans raised their weapons, scanning the area for any sentinels that might be sweeping in from above. But there was no movement from any direction, all except the stasis pods.  
Six of the pods were now almost fully open and there were signs of movement from behind the thick transparent shell.  
John continued forward, as though compelled by some unseen force.

"John!" Fred warned.

John carried on, almost oblivious to the concerns of his squad, until he reached the nearest section of open pods.  
A tall slender male figure emerged from within, along with several more males and females from the other pods. He was dressed in a one-piece suit of white interlocking plates, similar to his sub-layer of armour--Flexible sections of protective material that enabled him to walk run and handle a variety of weapons. But the Forerunner's equivalent was much more refined and far more advanced. It almost looked like skin.  
But despite John's amazement in seeing a living walking Forerunner in an advanced form of protective clothing it was the first words spoken by the Forerunner that surprised him.

"Welcome home John, we have been expecting you."

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

**Part 22 **

_Forerunner Subterranean Chamber _

John took a step back, scanning his surroundings for anything resembling an ambush. But he was looking directly at a living breathing Forerunner. Ambushes didn't seem to be an element of their behavior, and besides he was supposedly a Reclaimer. But the statement made by the male Forerunner standing before him was unusual, and unexpected, to say the least.  
"What do you mean, expecting me?"  
"We have waited a very long time to meet you John. You are the pride and joy of our work, and the subject of much debate," replied the Forerunner.

Unlike the previous Forerunner on the shield world, this individual was younger, healthier and, apparently, better equipped. He had short blond hair, a fair complexion and was dressed from neck down in an armoured jump suit of some kind. It was white in colour, with interlocking plates that moved and shifted as he walked.  
John lowered his weapon. "I think you're going to have to be a little more informative than that."  
Cortana suddenly jumped deep into his mind. "Chief, I'm reading massive power surges in every direction. All of the stasis pods have been opened and the small fleet of ships' are already powering their engines. I think we've just woken a sleeping giant," she said hesitantly.

The blond haired Forerunner slowly walked towards John, arms by his sides. "What do you remember of your parents John?" he asked.  
"My parents, why do want to know that?"  
"What do you remember John?" repeated the Forerunner.  
"Not a lot, barely anything in fact." John answered.  
The Forerunner took another step towards John and then, despite having his helmet on, looking him in the eyes. "John, what you know about yourself and your family is very different to the truth."  
"What do you mean?" John answered impatiently.  
"Your mother may have given birth to you but it was we that created you. You were designed, long ago, to be the soldier that we needed you to be."  
The rest of the Spartans slowly walked forward towards John and the Forerunner, with their weapons at their sides. Cortana also appeared again, on a holographic plinth nearby.  
"Chief, what does he mean?" Cortana asked.  
"I don't know."  
"Thousands of years ago, when mankind was barely able to start fire, we began an intense genetic displacement program called Destiny. Here we selected a number of individuals from your species and altered their DNA. They were changed in such a way that they would follow a pre-determined course of existence. Several of your distant ancestors were selected for this program."  
"You...designed him?" Kelly queried.  
"More than that, we selected his genetic line to carryout a specific role," replied the Forerunner.  
"What role?" Cortana asked.  
"To save every species in the galaxy, all except the Flood and, of course, the Scourge."  
"The Scourge?" John asked.  
"The species we encountered on the shield world the enemy." Cortana intervened.  
"Precisely, Cortana."  
"How do you know my name?"  
"We know a great deal." The Forerunner returned his attention to John. "You were designed to follow certain pre-determined genetic markers. You were destined to become a soldier, the saviour of all. Your bloodline was created to grow in strength and, at times, to avoid trouble when necessary. Your brain works in such a way that you will always duck at the right time. You will always jump at the right time, and you will always fire at the right time."  
"Are you saying...that I can't be killed, that I'm invincible?"  
"Far from it, you are as mortal as those around you; you are as mortal as we are."  
"So what stopped me from being killed as a child or my parents being killed before I was born?"  
"Because your parents were meant to look after you, but...Catherine Halsey was designed to find you. She was another with a pre-determined path. One that would see her create some of your species most prized technologies, including your augmentations."  
Cortana quickly realised the possibilities, the answers she could find. So she started with a simple example. "What about, Albert Einstein? Was he another one?"  
"Partly, he was destined to set the foundations for human science and the knowledge that they would all be founded upon."  
"So what now then?" Fred asked.  
"We prepare for the coming war. The Scourge know of your existence, and they will try everything in their power to eradicate you. It is only a matter of time before they come to destroy both you and every trace of your species. We have a small fleet here, and more on the way, but it will be some time before we can muster all of our remaining forces."

All of a sudden the entire dome was enveloped in a bright red glow, all of the Forerunner vessels rose from their landing area in the hangar section and the tall spire in the centre began to rise towards the ceiling of the chamber.  
"What's going on?" Fred asked.  
The Forerunner quickly glanced at a small display on his wrist, and then up towards the surface above them. "They're here."  
"Who? The Scourge?" John asked.  
"Yes," replied the Forerunner with a hint of apprehension.  
The COM crackled into life as the voice of the Arbiter pierced the tense atmosphere surrounding the Spartans.  
"Spartan, it would appear that you infamous enemy has finally arrived and in greater numbers."  
"How many?"  
"Twelve ships, Spartan. And they are much larger than the one you encountered. They have assumed a standard line, but are holding their distance from our combined fleets. I am sorry my friend, but we were only able to equip half of the attending vessels with shields, the rest have only their hull armour to protect them."  
"It'll have to do," voiced Cortana.  
"I will do what I can, but I fear this battle may be our last. They outgun us in every way. The battle will be short."  
"Sounds like good odds to me," Kelly said.  
John nodded and made his way towards the lift in long deliberate strides.  
"Where are you going, John?" The Forerunner asked.  
John stopped and calmly turned around. "To finish this fight," he answered.

* * *

**Part 23 **

_On board the Sangheili flagship, The Shadow of Intent _

"Status report," ordered Thel. His time as the Arbiter was destined to be short and his honour to be reclaimed upon his death, but Thel knew, deep down, that he had done more than enough to regain his dented pride. But in hindsight the original cause of his demotion was down to the Spartan.  
The destruction of the first ring had filled him with doubt and shame, but now he felt an enormous sense of pride. Being defeated by a lone Spartan in combat was no longer something that would fill his heart with shame; instead he thought it was probably his greatest achievement. If Thel had succeeded in his role as the fleet master, then the Spartan would be just an echo of humanities' hope and they would all be doomed against an enemy of unspeakable power.

"All ships report ready. Our cruisers have taken up their positions on the flank, all spirit, phantom and seraph craft have been positioned to cover the human orbital stations," Rtas reported.  
The fleet would do what it could to inflict as much damage as possible, but the outlook was bleak. His main responsibility should be the protection of the human ships. For once it would be down to them to save what was left of the Covenant.  
"Ensure the capital ships remain clear of each other. I do not want the destruction of one vessel to doom us all."  
"What of the human ships, Arbiter?"  
Thel pondered his options, but there were few. Even so, there was always a path to victory, he thought, even if it came from a suicidal engagement. He began to gain a new sense of understanding. This must have been what it was like for the humans when they fought their more advanced Covenant counterparts. "Position the shielded human ships to our rear, and the unshielded vessels behind them. They must be given the chance to fire."  
"Understood, Arbiter," Rtas replied.

Thel looked on as the fleet finished moving into position, each of them displayed on the command deck as a series of floating holograms. The human ships moved, almost reluctantly, to the rear of the main fleet, protected by a wall of Covenant capital ships. Thel hoped to use the human ships in rapid pop-up attacks, but there was no telling as to how quickly the enemy ships would adapt.  
He had to be flexible and inventive.

_Forerunner chamber, Earth _

John raced through the caves, followed by the rest of the Spartans. The Forerunners had chosen to remain in the chamber to ready their fleet and prepare the defences. John hoped that they could stall the attack on Earth, giving the Forerunners the chance to fight back.  
John quickly cleared the mouth of the cave, only to be dazzled by the morning sun.  
His faceplate immediately polarized to compensate.  
Beyond the mouth of the cave were almost three full companies of marines, all of them escorted by warthogs and Scorpions. At the forefront of the formation was the familiar sight of Lord Hood, accompanied by Dr. Halsey.  
Hood rushed over to meet with the emerging Spartans. "What did you find, chief?"  
John stopped in front of Hood. "Forerunners and lots of them. They have a chamber beneath the cave system along with their own personal armada. But unfortunately they have more pressing concerns."  
"I heard," Hood dropped his head. "The Arbiter is organising the fleet, but I'll need you and the other Spartans up there as well. If the enemy attempts a boarding we'll need everything we have to stop them."  
"What about me?" asked Cortana.  
"You'll be joining me on the Cairo. I need that lightning fast brain of yours to coordinate the pattern of fire."  
"Just like old times," she replied.  
"Chief, you and the rest of the Spartan II's head up to the Shadow of Intent; assist the Arbiter in any way you can, Dr. Halsey will be going with you."  
"I need to stay here. I need to study the technology that we have long been searching for," Catherine protested.  
"An order is an order Doctor," Hood replied sharply.  
"What about us?" Ash said. "What about us 3's."  
"General Moore will update you, but you'll be helping to defend the cave entrance, just in case our new enemy decides to pay us a visit down here."  
Ash looked disappointed. He wanted to be with the rest of the Spartans.

John walked over and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "I'll be counting on you down here Ash. If the Scourge break through the fleet they'll be heading straight for here. I need you to stop them."  
Ash looked up and nodded. "Don't worry, John. We'll stop them."  
"Pelicans inbound for EVAC, stand by!" Voiced a marine.  
John looked up to see two Pelicans swooping down and along the valley. They were both escorted by a pair of Longswords.  
Cortana's voice popped into John's head. "Good luck Chief."  
"And you," he replied.  
"Give'em hell, Chief," said Hood, grabbing a rifle.  
John nodded. "Look after her."  
"Don't worry; she'll see us all through."  
John wanted to keep up with the goodbyes, but had his orders again. He bounded off with the rest of the Spartan II's and Doctor Halsey into one of the waiting pelicans. Hood and a handful of naval staff headed for the other.  
John strapped himself in before they blasted into the sky, heading for the fleet.

_The Shadow of Intent _

"Human drop ship in-bound Arbiter. It carries Spartans," Rtas reported.  
"Good. Get them on-board and up to the bridge as quickly as possible."  
Suddenly, an alarm echoed throughout the bridge.  
Rtas looked up, frustration written across his weathered face. "The enemy fleet is advancing. They have adopted an arrow-head formation with a single vessel further out in front acting as a vanguard."  
"They wish to test our firepower, to see if we are a threat," Thel concluded.  
"The lead vessel is within range!"  
"Send in the cruisers. I do not want them to see the effectiveness of the human weapons until they are all in range."  
Rtas conveyed Thel's orders to the leading phalanx of cruisers. Eight of the glistening vessels immediately set off towards the isolated Scourge ship, weapons firing.  
The alien vessel simply stopped, absorbing the raining plasma fire before replying with a storm of energy.  
The lead cruiser was hit square in the face before the alien ship fire again, destroying the cruiser. The second and third were hit with the dissipating energy and careered of course. Powerless and adrift. They were quickly finished off with a scything lance of green light.  
The remaining cruisers adopted a scattered line formation before returning fire. Plasma torpedoes and plasma cannons did their best to fell their foe, but the ship simply absorbed the torrent of fire, its hull rippling in the cascading light of battle.  
"Shall I order the humans to fire?"  
"No, Rtas. I must see with my own eyes if we can defeat them."  
"Our weapons are having no effect, Arbiter."

Thel could see the obvious, but he also understood Rtas' frustration. The might of Covenant weaponry, that had caused the humans so much misery and grief in the past, was now all but redundant.  
"Order all remaining cruisers to concentrate their fire on the alien vessel."  
Rtas anticipated his order and sent in the remaining cruisers. Twenty-seven vessels rushed forward until they were almost on top of the alien ship. Then they fired.  
Thel watched closely as they peppered the ship with everything they had.  
Then he saw it. A small plume of ionized gas escaping from the rear of the enemy ship.  
"Order the cruisers to fire again, but tell the _Relentless Pursuit _to fire on the escaping gas."

The cruisers fired again as the _Relentless Pursuit _flanked the enemy vessel. The hull of the ship rippled again before the flaming stream of gas erupted from the rear. The Sangheili cruiser fired.  
The alien hull ceased rippling like water. It shattered and cracked like glass.  
The scourge ship returned fire at close range, destroying another four cruisers. But the damage was done.  
She exploded in a shower of light and debris.  
Rtas roared in approval before regaining his composure. "The alien vessel is destroyed, and the Spartans are now onboard."  
Thel smiled.  
Rtas' elation quickly vanished as the console he was attending began to emit a familiar warning tone. "The remaining alien vessels are increasing speed. They intend to finish us now."  
"Push the other capital ships forward, lay down a barrage for the human vessels."  
"Yes sir."

Thel had managed pull in fourteen other capital ships from their duties around the sector. Each one had three-times the firepower of a cruiser, and could last a great deal longer but they were also less maneuverable.  
Each of them fired. Their weapons directed on a single target in a combined effort. But there was no one to target the weak spots of each ship.  
"Send in the humans. Tell them to concentrate their fire in attack groups of no less than five vessels," Thel ordered. "Mark the targets for them."  
Rtas summoned the human ships into the fight.  
Each ship dropped into a small task force of five ships before engaging the Scourge fleet. Thousands of Archer pods opened up with their dangerous cargo before each ship engaged with their primary weapon.  
Over fifty MAC rounds streaked towards their targets.  
They hit. The hulls of several enemy ships rippled and then gave way to the sub-luminous slugs. The Covenant capital ships continued their firestorm, adding to the barrage.  
Five Scourge ships exploded. But the remaining six carried on, firing as they came.  
The doors to the command deck suddenly slid apart and four of the Spartans came running in, followed by the human doctor.  
The atmosphere of the bridge immediately lifted. The initial success against the scourge and the arrival of the Spartans was more than welcome.

"Are we winning?" John asked.  
"For now," smiled Thel. "They have six remaining ships."  
The holographic view of the battle chimed as dozens of MAC rounds erupted from the orbital stations.  
They hit the advancing vessels with pin-point accuracy. Cortana was doing what she was best at--multitasking.  
Four of the six ships exploded.  
"Make that two ships remaining," Thel corrected.  
John and the others watched as the two ships separated. One carried on towards them whilst the other sped directly for earth.  
John activated his COM. "Ash, you'll be getting some uninvited guests."  
The COM crackled. "Roger that."  
The remaining Elite vessels fired everything they had at the Scourge ship hurtling towards them.  
Several of the more modern human frigates managed to reload their MAC's and fired at the advancing ship.  
It exploded.  
"Arbiter, several smaller vessels were launched before the alien ship exploded," Rtas said.  
"Track them and engage."  
The smaller ships sped through a gauntlet of fire. All but one was destroyed.  
The single craft, the size of a pelican slammed through the shields of the Shadow of Intent and into the ship, burrowing into the hull.  
"Hull breach!" A young officer screamed. "Deck four."  
"What's the fastest way there?" John asked.  
Thel pointed over to one of the other bridge officers. "Ceris, escort the Spartans to the impact area. Take a security detachment with you."  
Ceris responded with a pleasing grunt before speeding away with the Spartans.

Thel knew that if anyone could stop the boarding action, it was the Spartans.

* * *

**Part 24 **

_Deck four of the Shadow of Intent _

Kelly covered the left hand side of the curved corridor, HHAG at the ready. Linda walked steadily behind her whilst John and Fred moved ahead. Ceris-the accompanying Elite-walked further behind them with another six of his kind.  
Though equipped with weapons that would normally cause even a Spartan to seek cover, the Elites were rightfully cautious of this new and dangerous threat.

Kelly moved passed another open doorway that lead into a separate corridor, she swept left and right with her HHAG until she was confident the area was clear, and then she moved on.  
Linda had slung her 99SRSD-Sniper Rifle on her back, and had opted for the more deadly and effective HHAG. The only reason she even carried the Sniper Rifle still was due to the unique Covenant design of the assault carrier. The Shadow of Intent was filled with loading bays, winding corridors and open plan chambers that made it ideal for long range engagements. But if she encountered the Scourge in this particular section the HHAG would be the perfect choice for a close range engagement.  
Linda swung around to cover the rear, where Ceris was located. He gave a respectful nod before she turned her attention back to the front of the group.

Unlike the Spartans, who used the protruding organic shaped bulkheads for cover as they moved, Ceris instead walked along the centre of the corridor.  
Linda knew the Elites were far from stupid and assumed it was an act of defiance, presumably in retaliation to the Scourge boarding. The Elites were extremely proud of their flagship and were determined to show that.  
Linda looked on as Fred and John moved in perfect unison, each Spartan in the team covered their respective arc of fire, but John and Fred moved forward like a pair of armoured twins, each of them perfectly accommodating the others movements.

Then as they rounded the corner to the next section they both suddenly stopped.  
John raised his hand as a gesture for everyone to stop and take cover.  
"Enemy, left corridor," John reported.  
"How many, Spartan?" Ceris asked, his mandibles clicking in anticipation.  
John carefully poked the barrel of his HHAG around the corner of the corridor and used the optical link to assess their numbers. In the small section of the extended corridor was the familiar sight of the Scourge vessel, but with just its nose visible. Around it were a collection of differently equipped aliens, all with the same slow shuffle for a walk.  
"Fifteen to twenty, but they all seem to be equipped differently to one another. Some have short barreled weapons, others have long barreled weapons. There are even a few with nothing at all."  
"Do they have anything resembling our Hunters?" probed the Arbiter on the COM.  
John glanced at the display again to double-check. "No."  
"Then allow me to send you some of my own."  
"I thought they sided with the Brutes?" John said.  
"Some of them did, but not all. They fight for different reasons."

Fred quietly moved over towards John. "I saw the footage of your fight with these things. We'll have to be fast or use a distraction, before they know what's happening."  
John thought for a moment. The aliens that he fought with on the Forerunner shield world were slow to learn and slow to react and, more importantly, he didn't have any other Spartans to think about.  
Fred shook him from his thoughts. "The Hunters are here."  
John turned around to see a pair of Hunters walking along the narrow corridor. Their shield arms were angled in an odd position so they could fit, sided by side, in the corridor.  
"Ceris," John started, "Ask the Hunters to use their shields as their primary weapon."  
Ceris nodded and began talking to the pair of walking tanks.  
"Kelly, do you feel like a warm up?"  
Kelly raised her head. "Always," she replied.  
"What do you have in mind?" Fred asked.  
"Kelly, I'll send you in first, but you'll have to be damn fast. There's another corridor section at the end, head for that. Ceris, you send the Hunters in after she's clear. I need them to go wild in there and take out as many of them as possible, after that we'll move in and take down the rest. You ready Kelly?"  
Kelly moved up level with John and Fred, followed by the pair of Hunters.  
John found it odd to be knelt down at the corner of the twisting corridor, with his back to a Hunter, but if they were now allied with them, all the better.  
"Stand by, Kelly."

John continued to watch his enemy as they wandered around in the large open corridor. They were making no attempt to seize the ship or kill the crew, why?  
"Go!"  
Kelly sprinted off in a lightning quick reflex of muscles. She rounded the corridor and saw all of the aliens in an almost relaxed posture. But they quickly changed when they noticed the Spartan dash past them.  
They were far too slow and Kelly rounded the second doorway at the end. The remaining aliens readied their weapons and headed off to follow, but they were stopped by a deafening roar as the Hunter pair came stomping through sweeping their shields from left to right. Several of the aliens were almost cut in half as they were hit; others were knocked to the floor, only to be trampled on a second later.

Six of the aliens raised their weapons to fire at the Hunters as they barreled through the crowd. Then they all dropped to the floor, all of them with gaping holes in their armour.  
John and the rest of Blue Team moved past the Hunter pair, HHAG's smoking.  
Upon seeing John, despite his armour covering his face, the aliens let out a screech.  
They were quickly silenced as each of the Spartans emptied several magazines into the screaming figures.  
They all died very quickly.

John walked through the pile of broken bodies, giving each one a well aimed shot to the head for good measure. "Arbiter, the threat has been neutralised," John sounded.  
"I am glad to hear that, Spartan. Make your way back to the command deck. We will be heading for the other ship as soon as our shields are operational."

John wanted to get down to the surface as soon as possible. Ash and the others would be on the receiving end of a much larger force. "We need to get down there, now."  
"There is no way to ascertain the status of their ship to ship weapons, Spartan. It could be the end of us all," replied the Arbiter.  
John could understand the Arbiter's position. He had one of the largest Covenant ships at his disposal, and despite being fearless in nature he was far from stupid. Loosing a powerful asset in an attempt to destroy the Scourge ship would be a foolish act.  
"What about the rest of the fleet?" John asked.  
"Battered and bruised, Spartan. Many of them are experiencing power fluctuations due to the Scourge beam weapons. It will be some time before we can reorganise the fleet again. I can, however, provide you with a number of Spirit drop ships, a company of Elites and a Scarab."  
John smiled. "I'll take it."  
"Very well, Ceris will take you to the main hangar bay. I'll drop the scarab once we are in position."

John followed Ceris along the purple-blue corridor to the main hangar bay. The scarab would be a welcomed gift. But then his attention changed to Ash, Olivia and Mark. He needed to know how the fight was going.  
"Ash, status report!" John barked on the COM.  
Static washed the channel for several seconds until the panting breath of Ash broke through.  
"Heavy casualties, strong enemy presence, Scourge ship intact but holding off at three kilometres," a long pause betrayed Ash's usual aura of confidence, things were obviously bad down there, "assistance required."  
John wondered why the Forerunners had failed to act and why the Scourge vessel hadn't simply blasted the UNSC forces to pieces.  
Maybe the Scourge want the Forerunner technology for themselves, he thought.  
"Help is on the way, Ash."  
There was no reply, but John didn't wait for one. He simply followed Ceris to the waiting line of Covenant drop ships.  
The drop would be hard and fast, the fight would be difficult and the enemy would number in the hundreds.  
Good odds for a Spartan, he thought.

* * *

**Part 25 **

Ash ducked as another bolt of green iridescent energy shot above his head. His SPI armour fizzled and sparked as the photo-reactive panels attempted to mimic the alien firepower.  
He quickly redirected his power reserves from the adaptive plating to the suit's inadequate protective layer. He hoped that if he was hit by a glancing shot that his armour might be able to absorb the energy, but he had to admit, after watching John's exploits with the aliens, that any chance of surviving would be slim at best.  
He ducked and rolled to the side as another volley of shots rained upon the small boulder that he had been using for cover only a split second before, the rock bubbled and boiled under the intense energy.

Ash looked to the side as rolled back into cover. To his relief Mark was back on his feet, firing at the Scourge forces that were slowly starting to surround them. The initial rush by the Scourge had been devastating for the two companies of marines that were helping them defend the cave entrance. All of the Scorpion tanks had been destroyed in just a few minutes. Only one of the armoured beasts had managed to get off a second volley before being reduced to a pile of molten slag and Mark had been hit by flying shrapnel in the resulting explosion.  
Only a handful of warthogs remained, all with Gauss cannons and possibly a total of three platoons of marines. The rest were either dead or dying.  
"Two more, hill on the left!" Olivia screamed.  
Ash looked over towards a small knoll on the left flank. Stood in plain sight were two of the odd looking aliens.  
Unlike their more slender counterparts, these Scourge were bulky in appearance with several appendages or arms that held a variety of weapons.  
Mark let off another magazine at the creature on the right before reloading and firing again. The creature appeared to squirm, more in discomfort than pain, before dropping to the floor, dead.  
The other creature raised its variety of weapons and fired them at the defending force. Cluster-bombs of bright light ricocheted around one squad of marines, before exploding in a dark wash of silence.  
The remaining weapons struck out in lances of fire and lighting, destroying another warthog and killing a pair of marines that were reloading their SGM-15's.  
The nearby bandolier of rockets exploded and another handful of marines fell to the floor screaming.

Ash levelled his HHAG at the lumbering alien and fired.  
The creature was over two-hundred metres away and at this range the HHAG was much less accurate.  
The alien creature, as though sensing a more dangerous threat, began to charge down the small hill towards Ash.  
Mark fired another trio of sniper rounds, which struck the creature in the face, but it carried on its relentless charge.  
Ash quickly reloaded his HHAG and carefully aimed at the alien. He waited until it was only thirty yards away before firing. The linear induction motor of the rifle emitted a low hum before a cloud of hyper-sonic rounds impacted on the surface of the aliens armour.  
The Scourge hulk slowed, stopped and then collapsed to the floor in a bloody mess.  
"We're getting murdered out here," Olivia remarked on the COM.  
Ash had to agree, but there was little else they could do until John arrived.

_Spirit Drop ship: Vengeful Duty _

John looked on as Ceris descended through the wispy white clouds above Europe. The holographic display of the Covenant drop ship projected their surroundings in amazing clarity and detail.  
Around him the rest of Blue Team sat in quiet awkwardness as the unusual seating area was ill equipped for a Spartan.  
"I see their seats haven't changed," Kelly whispered over the COM.  
Fred shifted in the angled seat; the frame creaked under his armour. "Or improved," he laughed.

John looked at his team. He was pleased that he could have these moments with them again. His previous, isolated, exploits on the Halo constructs had been a stark reminder that Spartans were now a rarity. Or so he thought.  
Dr. Halsey's return from the Micro-Dyson sphere within the remains of Onyx had given him a new found sense of family.  
The newer Spartan III soldiers had added to the small numbers of remaining Spartans, something which gave him a great deal of hope. But what he was more surprised by was the involvement of Colonel Ackerson in the project, and his desire to put a Spartan II in charge of the whole thing, in this case Kurt.  
John had to admit, that it was the last thing he expected from a person deeply opposed Dr. Halsey's work.

John thought back to the brief run-down of events that Fred had gave him back in Stuttgart several days ago.  
The other Spartans had problems of their own, and like their Halsey produced counterparts, they had also dwindled in numbers.  
The remaining, active, members were not a concern. John knew Ash and his team could handle anything that was thrown at them, but the others were beyond his control.  
Tom and Lucy had been taken to a remote testing facility in Fiji, where they were trying to unlock the remaining stasis pods found on Onyx, but according to a brief examination by Cortana, they were no closer to achieving anything.  
He activated the Spartan team roster and then selected a wider and more informative sub-menu of the various Spartan teams that had been deployed over the years. There were so many MIA's.  
John scrolled to a separate list that he had compiled himself; one that he used to remind himself of those that had made the ultimate sacrifice. At the top of the list sat a familiar and missed name: Samuel-034.  
John had lost so many Spartans, so many friends, that he sometimes felt as though his own luck or his 'destiny', as the Forerunner put it, was an unfair advantage over the remaining members of his team. He was now more determined than ever that no more Spartans would die, that no more friends would be lost.

The Covenant drop ship suddenly shuddered and vibrated. John shook himself from his thoughts and looked over towards Ceris. "What have we got?"  
The young Elite tapped away at several different coloured rune-covered panels and then turned around in his chair, his mandibles clicking. "The Scourge are attacking on almost every front, Spartan but the cruiser is sitting off at a short distance. I am detecting no power surges from the vessel. It would appear that only the troops are doing the fighting,"  
"Take us in low. Use the gap to the south. I wouldn't keep these drop ships here for long, they'll only become targets," John ordered.  
"Agreed, Spartan," Ceris replied. He turned his attention back to the detailed display and then ordered the other drop ships to head for the small gap in the Scourge line.  
John felt his insides move into his stomach as the tuning fork shaped craft dive-bombed towards the battle raging below. At the last second the craft pulled up, and they followed the lines of trees and hills until they were almost at the drop zone.  
John re-checked his HHAG, as did the other Spartans. The Elites had opted for the more effective carbine rifle instead of the now useless plasma rifle, but John noticed Ceris still had an energy sword in his possession.  
John looked at the sweeping terrain, judging the descent. "Drop in ten seconds!"  
All of the Spartans rose from their orthopedic racks as one, and then moved towards the edge of the deployment ramp.  
The remaining elites moved forward as well followed by Ceris who quickly relegated one of his warriors to piloting duties.  
John smiled. The sign of a committed and determined former enemy, ready to lay down their lives for the survival of humanity, made him feel more at ease with his survivor's guilt.  
The shell of the drop ship opened up, revealing green plains of sweeping grass. To the right of the craft was the southern edge of the cliff face, which ran along the landscape and into the horizon like a big cragged scar. To the left was the shape of a sweeping hillside, pot marked with small stone circles that were formerly used by sheep during the winter. Accompanying these were a few isolated groups of trees, most of them covered in leaves of bright green and red berries. A few at the far end, however, had been reduced to burning ash from the nearby firefight.  
John looked for the human battle line.  
Three hundred metres from the drop ship, and centred around the cave entrance were the defending troops. Only a few platoons of marines remained, along with several warthogs.

As John looked on at the raging battle the sight of tracer fire and energy weapons filled the air, explosions sent both aliens and humans cart-wheeling through the air.  
John had seen enough. He activated his NAV marker and placed it on Ash's position, which was in the dead ground of the hill, and leapt off the floating Covenant drop ship. The other Spartans quickly followed along with the accompanying Elites.  
They raced along the grassy plain and into the hell storm that surrounded them.

_Cave Entrance _

Ash reloaded his HHAG with the last magazine and then rushed over towards Mark, zigzagging to avoid the incoming fire. Mark was still using his sniper rifle, and that meant he would still have plentiful supply of HHAG magazines.  
Ash had estimated that the remaining Scourge troops numbered at around 250, but not all of them were attacking.  
Upon their arrival they had simply parked the cruiser off to the north without using any of the ship-board weapons. If they had the battle would have been one-sided and over within seconds. Instead the Scourge had opted for a ground assault with around 500 soldiers, something which Ash was thankful for.  
Most of the more athletic looking Scourge had formed a loose line around the defenders, before advancing down the hillside and onto the flat plain. The majority of the Scourge assaults had come in these thin waves before a more organised and heavily armed advance began.

Ash checked his NAV screen for the location of the other Spartans. He had briefly seen the drop ships swan-dive towards the south where they disappeared behind another hillside.  
The small display screen showed John and the other Spartans moving quickly along the ridge of the hill along with ten or so Elite squads. Ash quickly glanced behind to confirm the data, and saw the hurried silhouettes of the relief force.  
"Friendlies inbound," John announced over the COM.  
Mark looked at Ash and gave a two fingered gesture on his faceplate--the Spartan smile.  
"Glad to hear it," welcomed Ash with a smile. "Watch the area beyond the crest of the hill, in the dead ground. It's filled with ugly's and what I think is some kind of commander."  
"Acknowledged," came the reply.  
Ash turned his attention back to his team and chinned the standard voice emitter in his helmet. "I'm almost out."  
Without disturbing his aim or concentration, Mark indicated a tactical pouch on the rear of his armour. Then he squeezed off another shot. It hit a Scourge soldier in the eye. Then he fired again, taking out the other eye. The alien dropped to the floor, twitching like a dying fly before giving in to the Grim Reaper.  
Ash located the pouch and grabbed four magazines of the dart filled ammunition. He was impressed that the weapons had been so effective against the Scourge, even the bigger ones with the weapon pods could be taken out.  
Ash fired off another few rounds at several of the approaching aliens. Two of them dropped to the floor, the third, only injured in the legs, collapsed but began to crawl towards Ash.  
He was immediately tempted to take a run up and use the aliens' head for a penalty kick, but another few bolts of iridescent energy quickly changed his mind.  
Ash set his weapon to single shot and then peeked out from behind the smouldering tank hulk that both he and Mark were using for cover.  
He fired two shots at the alien, hitting it square in the face. It briefly twitched and then collapsed completely.

Around them were several, seemingly, isolated pockets of Scourge troops. The majority of them were beyond his line of sight on the far side of the hill, the area that John and the other Spartans were heading straight for.

_Spartan II - Blue Team _

John rushed towards the crest of the hill and then suddenly skidded to a halt on one knee. "Everyone, grenades," he ordered.  
The rest of the Spartan II's and the Elites pulled out handfuls of grenades and tossed them over the edge of the hill, followed by another handful and another. The echo of exploding grenades rolled up the hill like a racing drumbeat of deadly music.  
John peered over the hill.  
Down in the gulley of the next hill were around a hundred Scourge soldiers, but instead of their usual organised silence they were in complete disarray. Dozens lay dead or concussed by the grenades, but that was all that John needed.  
"Let's finish this," boomed John rising up to his feet.  
The Elites roared and then swept over the hill with the Spartans, weapons firing.  
The Scourge soldiers were slow to react to the charge. John gave them no time to regret their poor response.  
He rushed headlong into a crowd of the dark suited aliens firing off an entire magazine into the aliens. Six of them dropped like a toppled stone wall.  
Another two moved to stop him, but they were too slow for his Spartan reflexes.  
He kicked out at one of them, almost wrenching its head from its shoulders.  
The other tried to grapple the HHAG form his grasp.  
John snapped the weapon down from the aliens' grasp and then brought it back up into its armoured face.  
The alien was launched from its feet and into the air, landing on another Scourge soldier.  
Both of them remained still.

John carried on through the crowd of aliens, punching and kicking wildly.  
Around him the rest of the Elites and Spartans were wreaking havoc with the black suited soldiers in hand to hand combat. Piles of Scourge dead lay all around them, broken like toys left in the hands of a gorilla.  
Kelly was making the most of her exceptional speed as she broke limbs and armour with deft sweeps of her hands and feet.  
Fred was smashing his way through like a steamroller, while Linda was now using her sniper rifle like a baseball bat.  
It was carnage but, to a Spartan, damn good fun.

John clothes-lined another alien into oblivion and then stamped on its chest to make sure.  
A group of three more approached him, arms raised; ready to fire their energy weapons.  
He rushed them, rolled and then slammed into their legs.  
The aliens toppled over like bowling pins.  
John rose up and kicked the nearest alien in the head. At the same time he clicked his magazine release catch and the empty box dropped to the floor. He slapped in a fresh magazine and shot the other two dead.  
By now Ceris had upholstered his sword and much to John's surprise it was able to puncture the dense and adaptive armour as he laid waste to a small crowd of the aliens, decapitating most of them with razor-like precision.

Suddenly a bright beam sliced through a group of elites, vaporising them instantly.  
John looked to where the energy beam had come from.  
Stood on top of a small cluster of rocks was a Scourge solider in blood red armour. It was adorned with strange inscriptions and ornate patterns on plates of scale-like power armour. In its left hand was smoking flat tube that was glowing at one end.  
Its right arm was larger than the insect-like soldiers and was covered in a plethora of sharp jagged barbs with a clawed hand at the end.  
Its head was similar in appearance to the helmets worn by ancient knights, with beveled edges and sweeping curves. All of which lead to a large pair of green glowing eyes.

By now Ceris had seen enough and in an act of revenge he charged the creature with his energy sword. But this alien was much faster and stronger that the regular field of Scourge soldiers.  
The alien fired its weapons a second time, but Ceris dodged with a roll. He reached the creature and swung his sword; glancing the shoulder of the alien with its blade.  
It reeled and then countered with a clawed hand, catching Ceris in the stomach. He fell back, blood streaming from his wound.  
The alien rose up ready to deliver the killer blow.  
John acted.  
He picked up the body of a nearby Scourge soldier and hurled it at the ornately armoured alien.  
The creature tried to move out of the way, but John could flip scorpion tanks with his bare hands. The dead alien slammed into the creature like an artillery shell, throwing it off balance.  
The creature tried to respond, but John was already running towards it like a charging elephant.  
He jumped and slammed into the chest of the alien with both of his armoured feet. The alien reeled backwards and toppled off the cluster of rocks.  
John followed up the attack and dived on top of the alien and grabbed its arms in his vice-like grip.  
They grappled with each other, trying to out do the others movements. John grew impatient and delivered two head-buts to the aliens' face.  
It was stunned.  
John took the initiative and straddled the creature, using his legs to restrain his opponent's arms.  
It panicked in anticipation.  
John pounded the aliens' face with his immense fists, pile driving piston-like punches into the Scourge monster. His arms became a blur as he hammered the thing into next week.  
Seeing the creature was beyond help he picked up its lifeless body and threw it into the air, pulled out his HHAG and filled the alien with super-high velocity rounds.  
The creature danced in the air with the impacts before landing with a heavy lifeless thud.  
It was over.

John rushed towards Ceris, but he was already too late. He was dead.  
He turned towards the Scourge cruiser, waiting for the coming fire. But it never came.  
More aliens appeared below the ship and began their slow advance towards the Spartans.  
The COM crackled into life. "I have a gift for you Spartan," sounded the Arbiter, "but I would advise the use of cover."  
John and the others didn't wait to ask and crouched behind the pile of rocks.  
Linda activated a bubble shield.

Above them the familiar shape of a Scarab appeared but it made no attempt to slow its descent, Instead it plummeted earthwards heading straight for the Scourge cruiser.  
In vain the cruiser tried to avoid the impact, but it was too slow. The Scarab smashed into the enemy vessel, cleaving it in two. A huge fireball enveloped both, and the marching troops were engulfed in the firestorm.  
The cloud and dust settled.  
No Scourge were left alive.  
The bubble shield depleted its charge with a pop. The Spartans and remaining Elite warriors stood up and surveyed the landscape.  
The countryside was on fire.  
"You are indeed deserving of your former title Spartan," an Elite voiced. "You are indeed a Demon, the destroyer of our enemies."  
The Elite smiled with its four hinged jaw and then let out a roar. The other Elites did the same, a sign of defiance to the enemy and of respect for John.  
He nodded.

The rest of them walked over to the Spartan III's. They could only see Ash and Mark at first and then Olivia appeared behind them.  
Several squads of marines still remained. They were all helped onto a Pelican before it sped towards the nearest MEDCEN.  
"Spartans, head check," John ordered.  
All of his status lights for Blue Team winked in acknowledgement. That was good, he thought to himself.  
"Let's see what these Forerunners are up to, Spartans."  
Blue team made their way towards the entrance of the cave, but a brief transmission from Cortana on Cairo station immediately changed the atmosphere.

"Chief, another Scourge ship has just appeared out of MAC range, but this one is ten-times the size of the Shadow of Intent. Get your ass up here, now!"

* * *

**Part 26 **

_Cairo Station, Earth orbit _

Hood looked on as his crew prepped the station for the coming fight. The station now had a full complement of MAC rounds in the hold and the Covenant shields were operating at a reassuring 99.89%.  
The fleet was almost ready after the initial battle with the Scourge cruisers and they had even managed to complete the refit of another two battle cruisers with shielding technology, but, despite all of this, Hood remained worried and equally uncertain of what the next few hours might bring.  
The Scourge super ship had simply sat beyond the range of the MAC stations since it had arrived, and that was over twelve hours ago. Several probes had been launched towards the immense vessel by both the Elites and an orbiting UNSC science and survey ship, but all had returned intact, and with their valuable scans. The scourge vessel had almost ignored them.

Hood activated his personal display. A magnified image of the Scourge behemoth flashed upon the screen.  
The ship was vast in sizeover twenty-two kilometres in length, and had the unusual appearance of a gigantic beetle with a large armoured carapace and a sweeping prow similar to the Covenant ships. It had a series of wing-like structures, all equipped with a multitude of weapons that could no doubt destroy every ship in the fleet with a single shot, but despite the overwhelming firepower at its disposal, it remained beyond the reach of the defending ships.  
"Cortana, anything new?" he asked hesitantly.  
Cortana appeared on a holo-plinth on the other side of the small and dimly lit operations cell. Her hologram immediately gave the room a ghostly glow.  
"Nothing yet sir," she answered. "The Osiris, the Valiant and the Elite cruiser Dark Foreboding have all completed their close range runs with no reaction from the enemy ship. It appears we are both busy studying the otherlooking for an advantage to conclude this fight."  
Hood frowned. "That ship must have more firepower than the entire fleet put together,"  
"Most likely, but we managed to destroy twelve of their ships and there's the Forerunner presence to consider. They want _us _to make the next move."  
Hood's frown deepened into criss-cross of scar-like lines at the mention of the Forerunners. He gritted his teeth and then tightened his grip on the edge of the desk. "Why haven't the Forerunners intervened? All they've done, so far, is sit in that damned cave whilst Humans and Elites lay down their lives!"  
"I know," Cortana sympathised. "But I'm sure that they have something in mind."

Hood turned around to one of the other display screens. It was listed with all of the recent casualties.  
There were too many to count.  
He sighed. Rubbed his eyes and then focussed on the current situation.  
"How's the Chief doing?"  
Cortana shot him a quick smile at the mention of John. "He and other Spartans have almost finished their task. All of the defending Marines have been briefed on the use of the HHAG rifles and the remaining ammunition boxes have been issued to the fire support teams on the Ontario MAC Station."  
"Good," Hood said. "Have them report back to my office when they're finished, Cortana."  
"Yes, sir," she beamed.

Hood walked out of the operations cell and along the corridor to his personal office. Inside was a comfortable black leather chair behind a solid oak table.  
It was the same chair that he had pondered his next move as the Covenant swept through a tentative and fragile human empire. And it was the same chair where he had issued orders for the men and women of the UNSC to fight to the last, to die with little hope in sight.  
After years of death and destruction being thrown in his direction, Hood was now in the same situation as those he had ordered into battle. But he was glad, in a way, that he would now face the same danger as those who had died. The only problem was that this battle would ultimately decide the fate of both Humanity and the Elites.

Hood sat in his chair, opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of 78-year old Talisker Scotch Whiskey.  
He poured himself a small measure of the pale brown liquid and leaned back in his chair. He creaked into the soft leather, took a sip of the whiskey and stared up at the office ceiling.  
He closed his eyes and thought of anything that could help the fleet.

Hood knew that the only weapons that could damage the scourge ships and soldiers were ballistic based weapons, or anything that utilised kinetic energy. The majority of the Covenant weapons were energy based which meant they had to use enormous amounts of firepower to even match the effectiveness of a single human weapon.  
He took another sip of the warm liquid.  
The scourge soldiers were also as troublesome as their ships. They moved in a slow, deliberate mannerpreferring to study and learn about their enemy before attacking. This presented a small window of opportunity for an initial attack, but once the Scourge had decided on how to deal with their enemy things would become very difficult, very quickly.  
There was a knock at the door.  
Hood put away his drink and sat upright in his chair, straightening his uniform.  
"Enter."  
The door slid open, revealing the familiar sight of the Spartans.  
Hood stood up. "Chief, please come in. I'm afraid there's not much room in here but make yourselves as comfortable as possible."  
John and the others stepped forward into the office. The door closed behind them.  
"The marine training and deployment around the station went without a hitch, sir. But it'll only really prove useful if the Scourge decide to board us."  
Hood nodded in agreement and then sat back down in his chair. He stared off into the opposing wall and then looked up at the towering Spartans. Despite the offer of comfort they all remained standing. "What do you all make of our new enemy?" he asked.  
"Sir?" John queried.  
"Speak freely, Spartans. What are your thoughts on the Scourge?"  
The Spartans relaxed slightly.  
"They're tough but not invincible," John replied.  
"And for once our weapons are more effective than the Covenant," Fred continued.  
Hood looked at the younger, newer Spartan III's. "What about you?" he said looking at Ash.  
"The HHAG's have given us a much needed advantage in any close quarter battle situation, but we're lacking on the protective front," stated Ash confidently.  
"Unfortunately our ships are in the same predicament," Hood agreed. "Even with the Covenant shielding in place we can only really fight them using hit and run tactics. Fighting them face to face is a dangerous game."

There was a faint knock at the door.  
Before Hood could say anything, the door opened and in rushed a withdrawn looking Catherine Halsey with an armful of data pads and a coffee cup.  
"Please, come in," grumbled Hood.  
Catherine glanced at everyone in the room over the rim of her glasses. "Ah, just the people I need to see." She quickly dumped the pads on the desk and took a sip of the now cold coffee. She pulled a disgusted face but then continued drinking, ignoring the lack of heat in favour of a burst of caffeine.  
Hood grabbed the discarded data pads and set them all in a neat pile. "What can I do for you, doctor?"  
"I've been thinking," she started.  
Hood raised an eyebrow.  
"The Spartans are still at a disadvantage because of the immense energy produced by the Scourge weaponry. But I think I have found a way to lessen the vulnerability of their power armour."  
John and the others stepped forward. They were interested.  
"Go on," prompted Hood.  
"The Arbiter was generous enough to provide me with samples of the hunter shield and Brute armour, and one of their engineers. We were able to fuse Covenant armour directly onto a suit of Mjolnir armour that we had down in the lab." Catherine's tone began to change as did her body language. She began to display a more positive attitude.  
Hood looked over at the Spartans and then back at the doctor. "Are you suggesting that we can give them new armour?"  
"Yes," Catherine smiled.  
"Do we have time? It'll take weeks to calibrate each suit to the wearer will it not?" Hood gasped.  
Catherine pushed her glasses up. "I already had all of their specifications on file. The new suits are ready, sir. I just need the Spartans to give them a test run."  
Hood stood up. "Well, Chief. Are you up for a new toy?"  
"If it'll give us an edge, yes sir," John replied.

All of the Spartans followed Dr. Halsey out of the small office before heading for the monorail-mounted transit car.  
After a short ride they reached a room filled with computers and technical equipment. The room itself was roughly twenty metres in diameter with a tall ceiling and a single large viewing area one floor up. Stood in the glass fronted viewing area was the familiar sight of General Moorethe R&D officer. Stood next to him were Admiral Cole and a high ranking female officer with grey hair that John was not familiar with.  
Dr. Halsey cast them a quick glance as she made her way to the far side of the room. Stood there were seven large containers.  
"Cortana, open the HAZMAT containers," ordered Catherine.  
Cortana appeared next to the line of containers. "Yes ma'am."  
One by one each of the containers was lifted up to reveal a highly modified version of the 6th variant of the power armour. It was covered in additional plates of armour and a thin exoskeletal frame of some sort.  
All of the Spartans walked forward.  
"HAZMAT?" John queried.  
Catherine smiled. "Stops people from touching my work."

John walked up to one of the suits, inspecting its armour. There were unusual plates of armour added to the standard issue of power armour which made it look bigger, in fact, almost Brute sized.  
Catherine flipped open her laptop and keyed in a few commands. There was a thin whistle of air before all of the suits opened remotely. "The suits have been drastically redesigned," she started. "They are all capable of operating in a complete vacuum for an extended period of time and the onboard oxygen scrubbers are 77% more efficient. The armour is a composite of Brute and Hunter armour, all fitted as an additional layer to the standard Mjolnir frame."  
Ash looked a little nervous, almost reluctant to accept the new armour in favour of his SPI variant. "What about the Photo Reactive technology?"  
"Don't worry, Ash. This armour has a more effective camouflage system, with an updated software package. They also have increased speed, manoeuvrability, strength, reaction times and extreme combat durability."

John turned around to look at Dr. Halsey. She had a large grin spread across her face. "How did you manage this in such a short space of time?" he asked.  
"Actually this has always been a working project. Ever since your first encounter with the Hunters on Côte d'Azur I have been thinking of a more effective armour system. The Hunter shield armour gave me that idea, but what I lacked was a sample. Now I have it, and the Covenant Engineers are able to work at an alarming rate."  
"Can it take a direct hit from one of their weapons?" Fred probed.  
Catherine placed her hand on one of the armoured plates. "This material is an extremely dense composite that can actually regenerate over time. It utilises an organic compound to achieve that. It should be able to take several direct hits. The exoskeletal frame acts as a Faraday cage to dissipate the energy from your armour plating. That, combined with the new shield technology and other enhancements should make you a far more dangerous opponent"  
"An organic compound" Kelly muttered. "You mean those worm things?"  
"Yes, but this armour uses a bio-neural circuit layer that not only increases reaction time but acts as a surrogate system for the armour plating as well."  
John gave the armour a light tap with his knuckle, as if testing it in his mind. "Let's get these suits on, Spartans."

Everyone quickly donned their new armour.  
John pulled himself into his suit and the neural link connected immediately. At first he was a little uncomfortable, but then his suit quickly moulded to the contour of his body and skeletal frame.  
He slowly moved his arm, testing the reaction times of the suit on a small scale. The suit almost predicted the movement.  
All of them started jumping around the large room, punching bulkheads and kicking out at the remaining boxes that were piled in the far corner.  
Kelly was testing her speed with a few laps of a centrally mounted technical area, one that was used for testing the strength and recharge rate of the Mjolnir shields. To John and the others, she was just a blur.

Suddenly, a wall mounted alarm started to sound and several revolving red lights covered the room in a blood-red glow.  
John looked up at the observation booth, only to see it empty. "Obviously they're not sticking around," he whispered to himself.  
Hood rushed to a nearby intercom and keyed in the command cell access code. ". "Status report lieutenant."  
John didn't need to use his imagination or the suits monitoring system to tell what the problem was. The look on Hood's face said it all. The Scourge ship was approaching.

John and his team made their way to several pre-arranged areas where they would help defend the station.  
It was hoped that the Scourge would attempt a boarding like before on the Shadow of Intent, but in truth there was no way to be sure.  
Hood and Dr. Halsey, however, rushed along the corridor to the command cell. There they would co-ordinate the pattern of fire from the remaining orbital MAC platforms as well as the fleet. As a last resort they would use nuclear mines and thousands of interceptor craft and Pelicans. After that they would be using sticks and stones.

Hood rushed into the command cell and immediately activated the holographic tactical console. The small table illuminated and the ghostly image of the Scourge ship appeared, floating, just above the flat surface.  
As usual there was little detail that he could make out, even with the additional scans that had been run. The Scourge, apparently, had a need to keep their enemies in the dark whilst they would asses the situation before attacking.  
Hood had a feeling that the first attack with twelve of their ships had been either an error on their part or a simple act of overconfidence, but he doubted the Scourge, after all of this time, were that stupid.  
"Cortana, what are we looking at?"  
The question was more rhetorical than anything, but Cortana appeared behind the tactical console.  
"The Scourge ship is moving on a direct course for Earth and us. They'll be within weapons range in just under two minutes."

Hood stared at the hologram of the ship. Then he had an idea. "Cortana, divide the fleet equally into two separate task forces. Give the Arbiter command of one and leave the other to me."  
"Yes sir."  
Cortana's skin flashed briefly as she disseminated the order to the fleet. On the holographic display she panned the image to give a plan view of the entire system.  
Hood looked on as the two fleet dividedeach force with an equal compliment of Elite and Human vessels. In the very middle was the stationwith its MAC at the ready.  
"Push the fleets further apart, Cortana."  
"But sirthat will leave the station vulnerable and unprotected."  
Hood repeated himself and Cortana reluctantly complied.  
On the display both of the fleets pushed away from each other, leaving the station wide open for an attack.  
Dr. Halsey displayed a concerned look as Hood widened the gap, but she remained silent, hoping that he knew what he was doing.  
Everyone in the command cell watched the image as the holographic ship sped through the system.  
Then the Scourge ship slowed to a halt.  
Dr. Halsey peered at the hologram. "What are they doing?" then she looked at Hood. "More importantly, though, how did you know they would stop?"  
"I didn't, Doctor," he replied. "It was just a feeling. Our previous encounter was a simple face-off with them. And at all times they controlled the environment; they held all the cards and ran the game according to their rules. All I did was change the rules a little."  
"They need to re-evaluate the situation," Catherine concluded, "before they can adapt and attack according to what they know."  
"We have to take the initiative before they're ready. We need to be the one's attacking, not them. Cortana, order the fleet to attack. Get them to do as much damage as possible."  
Cortana acknowledged the order and reassured the Arbiter of the plan on the COM. Elites were not one's for complaining and he was no different. The Shadow of Intent sped forwards along with the rest of the fleet, weapons at the ready.

Hood panned the image manually to show both of the fleets, Cairo station and the Scourge ship. "Cortana, how long till intercept?"  
"Twenty eight seconds, sir,"  
Hood rubbed the stubble on his chin as his mind tumbled through a range of scenarios. Then he decided on one. "How long will it take the station MAC rounds to reach the scourge ship?"  
Cortana quickly realised what he was thinking. "Nine seconds. I can fire two volleys from all twenty-four planet side stations before the fleet reaches the enemy vessel."  
"Do it," Hood grinned.  
Cortana became a brief blur of lines and symbols as she rapidly calibrated the twenty-four nearest stations. A second later the station shook as the MAC released a slug the size of a Warthog at the Scourge ship.  
Hood continued to watch as the display changed again to show the MAC rounds speeding through the vacuum of space. They all hit their targets, piercing holes in the mammoth-sized ship.  
A second volley erupted from the stations, again, hitting the ship with pin-point accuracy. Small plumes of fire were ejected from the hull, throwing debris into space.  
The fleet arrived and moved into their attack formations before peppering the Scourge colossus with MAC and plasma fire. They were damaging the enemy vessel, just not enough to kill it.

As Hood and Dr. Halsey watched the battle unfold, there was a rush of air in the command cell and the blond haired Forerunner, which John had previously talked to, appeared at the end of the room.  
Cortana's eyes widened. "Sir, we have a visitor."  
Hood turned around and then took a step back.  
Several of the guarding marines aimed their weapons at the Forerunner, but Hood motioned them to lower their rifles. He gritted his teeth. "You must be a Forerunner."  
"Yes. My name is Gethavron. I must apologise for a lack of action on our part, but we needed to prepare for this attack without letting the Scourge know our current condition."  
"Really?" Hood responded.  
"We have a ship on the way. It will arrive shortly. When it does you will need to order your vessels to withdraw. Otherwise they may be caught in the crossfire."  
Hood looked once more at the holographic battle raging on the tactical console. "Very well," he agreed.  
The Forerunner vanished without a sound.

_The Shadow of Intent _

"Prepare another plasma volley, Rtas!" Thel barked.  
The ship hummed from deep within.  
"Fire!"  
The Shadow of Intent shuddered. Energy projectors and plasma torpedoes struck out at the Scourge ship, all fell harmlessly on the hull of the alien vessel.  
Thel double check his personal console. No exhaust gas was being vented this time, but was most likely because of the sheer size of the enemy ship. They would need far more firepower to inflict a critical level of damage.  
"The Human vessels are firing again, Arbiter," Rtas reported.

In all there were thirty-seven human ships capable of combat and all of them fired their Magnetic Accelerator Cannons at the same time. Thel watched them punch into the Scourge behemoth. Some hit thicker, tougher armour and were somehow stopped in their tracks. Other shots, however, penetrated the skin of the ship. But despite the success of the barrage the Scourge just sat there, taking it all.  
Thel had to admit that his previous concerns with the twelve scourge cruisers had now been completely overshadowed by this monstrous ship.  
"Arbiter, the enemy ship is powering weapons," Rtas warned.  
Thel cursed under his breath. They needed more time and more firepower to stop them. "Order the fleet to fire one more volley, then drop us back to the planetary defences so the Human station will have a clear line of sight."  
Rtas nodded and keyed in the commands.  
The two fleets hammered the scourge vessel again and then turned and sped towards the defensive line of orbital stations.  
The enemy ship simply ignored the weapons fire and continued to charge its weapons.

Thel knew that the Scourge now had some perverse fascination with his Spartan friend. Their next target would undoubtedly be the orbital command station named 'Cairo'.  
He opened the ships' communications array and raised the station that the Spartans were on. "Lord Hood, this is the Arbiter. Our attack has proved unsuccessful. I recommend that you use your orbital stations to inflict further damage."  
Hood's voice crackled over the hybrid link between human and Covenant technology. "Understood, Arbiter you did your best. Our guests may have an old _friend _arriving shortly." Hood was wary of using the word Forerunner over the COM channel. It may give the Scourge an idea of what they would be facing if they were listening. "Until then we'll be on our own."  
Thel was pleased to hear the news. But trying to fight an enemy like the Scourge until a more effective vessel arrived would be a one-way fight. But then he had an idea.  
"Fear not, my friend. I have something in mind." Thel cut the link and approached Rtas at his station.  
His loyal friend gave him a crooked half-jawed smile.  
"We need to protect the human station at all costs, Rtas. Order all Sangheili craft to create a protective cage around the orbital station. Tell the Humans to move off to a flank and continue firing."  
Rtas nodded. He knew what Thel had in mind. At times of extreme desperation and when the only option was the survival of one particular ship, all other fleet ships would overlap their shields around a given target.  
Rtas ordered the Sangheili ships to the station and sent his extended shield plan to the remainder of the fleet.

The larger capital ships moved into a defensive wall around the station and overlapped their shields. The only area left open was a small gap for the MAC weapon to fire.  
The smaller cruisers and battleships also extended their shields, giving the Cairo station the same defensive properties as ten Covenant super-carriers.  
The Scourge ship began to move and immediately opened fire on the congregation of Covenant ships. In the initial barrage three cruisers were destroyed and a capital ship was severely damaged.  
The commander of the capital ship made the ultimate sacrifice and headed under his remaining power towards the Scourge super ship. The Scourge opened fire again, destroying the broken vessel before it could collide.  
The Human stations opened fire as did the other ships. More direct hits were scored but the scourge carried on, firing as they approached.  
Another four cruisers and two battleships fell to the storm of fire followed by two of the hulking capital ships.  
The Human and Elite forces, again, returned fire.  
The enemy continued their assault.  
Bright green bolts of fire and scything beam weapons cut through the defensive wall.  
Thel was sure they were doomed.  
"Arbiter, another ship is emerging from Slipspace," Rtas announced.  
Thel hoped the additional vessel was anything but Scourge. "Identify," he ordered.  
Rtas smiled. "The ship characteristics match those used by the Forerunners, Arbiter."  
"At last. Order the cruisers and battleships to join the Human ships. Keep the capital ships here, around the station."  
Rtas keyed in the order.  
The cruisers and battle ships moved away from the station and formed a small barrier in front of the Human vessels, which used their manoeuvring thrusters to pop up from behind the makeshift wall to fire on the Scourge ship.

By now the Scourge vessel had turned to meet its age old enemy in combat. Both were similar in size and were no doubt capable of destroying the other. Thel only hoped that the small amount of damage they had inflicted would give the Forerunner vessel the upper hand.  
Both ships began to circle each other. The dark and deadly Scourge vessel was the first to fire. Thel surmised that the years of war between the two cultures had reduced the amount of time that the Scourge needed to asses their opponent.  
The alien vessel cut out with its deadly beams, damaging a small section of the forerunner goliath.  
The Forerunner ship was similar in appearance to the dreadnaught that had powered High Charity for centuries. But it was much larger with bulbous section of angled fins and section of pods that were all aligned towards the Scourge ship.  
A large cradle like structure, at the centre of the ship, which looked as though it was designed for repair began to emit a bright light. Suddenly there inside the cradle was a smaller version of a working sun. The golden fireball, the size of a Covenant cruiser, shot from the Forerunner vessel and sped towards the other ship.  
The Scourge vessel appeared helpless, but instead of being destroyed, the alien ship emitted a strange flail of energy which formed into a vast swirling maelstrom of darknessa black hole.  
"It is like watching gods play with their toys," cried Thel.

The rest of the bridge crew looked on as the two ships sought victory. The Forerunner vessel repeatedly fired cruiser-sized suns at the scourge all of which were swallowed whole by the black hole. All, that is, except one.  
A single sun evaded the defensive measure and smashed into the scourge super-ship. The hull, which was capable of deflecting or absorbing the combined might of the Covenant fleet, now shattered under the forces at work. The hull rippled and boiled as the glowing orb cut through the vessel like paper.  
The Forerunner vessel fired again and again and again.  
The scourge ship exploded in a shower of flame and debris.  
"Enemy ship destroyed, Arbiter." Rtas' grin was short lived as he stared at the console. "There is an object moving towards the station at high speed."  
"Destroy it!" Thel barked.  
The fleet opened up on the small object, no bigger than a Longsword fighter, but it evaded their attempts to destroy it.

_Cairo Station _

"Is it a weapon or a ship?" Hood asked.  
Cortana stared off into the distance. "I'm not reading any power spikes or any life signs, but the object could be shielded to conceal any energy readings."  
"I'll bet my ridiculous military salary that object is some kind of boarding craft  
Hood proved himself right as the object careered through the defensive shield-wall of Covenant capital ships. Their shield fluttered and shimmered.  
The object slammed into the station and delivered its cargo.

John moved forward to the next section of the corridor. The remaining Spartans followed. They had all met at the previous intersecting corridor as they each headed down to the impact area.  
John knew that the Scourge would react quicker than before. They were learning more and more by the minute and all of that would be put into practice in the next few minutes.  
He heard screams and gunfire from the next corridor.  
They rushed forward with their HHAG rifles at the ready.  
What they saw changed their opinion of the Scourge forever.  
In the next room, a large cargo bay, was the forward section of the boarding craft. But this one was bigger than the previous craft used on the _Shadow of Intent. _John looked on as several large figures swept through the defending marines.  
The creatures were large - twice the size of a Hunter and they were tearing the marines apart, literally.  
They were stood on two large legs with a body covered in armour and a pair of hulking, spike covered, arms. The head of the creatures were only partially covered. They had sweeping helmets with thin slits for eyes and an exposed mouth section that revealed a gaping maw of razor sharp teeth. Their skin almost looked reptilian in appearance.  
John turned back towards his Spartans. "Big boys, in the next room. No ranged weapons but highly dangerous. Twice the size of a Hunter," he informed.  
They all nodded in their modified armour.  
"Let's see what these suits are capable of," offered Kelly.  
They all agreed, and ran into the next room.

Kelly was the first to reach one of the aliens. She unloaded a full HHAG clip into the side of the alien. It stumbled. Found its footing again and then charged.  
She dived out of the way as the monster slammed into the wall.  
John jumped up and shot the alien in the face before pushing off with his feet from its chest. Fred followed up with a magazine in the leg.  
The alien fell to the floor.  
Ash levelled his HHAG at the exposed face and fired.  
The creature stopped moving.  
The remaining four creatures quickly realised what was happening and ceased their assault on the few surviving marines. They all charged straight for John.  
He rolled to one side. Fired and then jumped back wards onto a pile of logistical containers and then jumped again.  
The monsters reeled from the attack and struck out at the boxes, knocking them over like dominoes.  
Olivia and Mark joined the fire fight and each used a full magazine to kill another creature before they had to dodge another charge.  
Fred and Linda fired at the remaining monsters. One fell and then the other.  
The last creature continued to hound John. He leapt from box to box kicking out at the large creature.  
Fred jumped forward and fired a clip at the monster at point blank range. The creature reeled and then staggered forward to attack.  
John leapt.  
The creature struck out hitting John in the chest. He was thrown back wards against the wall, winded but alive.  
The monster walked forward.  
All the remaining Spartans fired their weapons at the Scourge hulk. It reeled again. Then John attacked.  
He dived on the creature punched it in the jaw several times and then delivered a hammer blow to the top of its head.  
The creature cried out and tried to grab John.  
He shoved a grenade in its mouth, jumped onto its back and then kicked off; firing as he he did so.  
The creature gave a muffled roar before its head exploded.  
John and the others gave a collective sigh of relief.

_Cairo Command Cell _

John and the other Spartans stood in line as Lord Hood gave them each a commemorative medal and a friendly handshake. It was the least he could do.  
"Well, Spartans the immediate threat is over. But from what I have seen we will need to prepare for the next time we meet."  
The Spartans Nodded.  
The Arbiter, now aboard to personally thank the Spartans, stepped forward and greeted each of them.  
They all smiled.  
Then John's vision tunnelled and darkened. His head spun and filled with stars.  
He tried to clear his mind and regain his balance. But he fell.  
Then silence came.

A deep roar echoed in his broken mind. He tried to protest, but he couldn't.  
Then the roar settled into a voice-- A deep resounding voice that, somehow, seemed familiar.

_"I have watched you from across the stars. You have become a true hero and saviour of all mankind. You were the key part in a puzzle, an enigma to which we were all a part of. But unfortunately that must come to an end..." _

_"...I must destroy you." _

John recognised the voice.  
"But you're dead. You can't be here," he protested.

The voice spoke again.

_"The past no longer matters, Reclaimer. All that matters is the future. A future where every trace of your existence is but a distant whisper." _

John regained his vision and slowly rose to his feet.  
"Chief, what happened," asked a concerned Hood.  
The other Spartans crowded round him and helped him up.  
"What is it, John?" Kelly asked.  
John shook his head. "Something spoke to me, something alien, something familiar and deadly. I thought it was the Gravemind at first, but then I recognised the voice. It was Keyes, sir"  
"But he's dead, Chief."  
"I know sir, but I think we may have more than one fight on our hands."  
"The odds are even," Thel sounded.  
They all agreed.  
Then we need to prepare for whatever may come in the future.

**The End... **


End file.
